I Still Remember
by DirectionOfTime
Summary: Kakashi's best friend as a child has grown up into a woman he doesn't know after she walked out of his life more than a decade previous.  A chance meeting and a friendship rekindled?
1. Little Kakashi

Yo, This is an older Kakashi Story than '_Fascination_' and frankly, I think _Fascination_ is better by miles; I don't like that character that I made Kakashi into so much, but hey, I decided to post it anyway and let you guys decide what you like, or don't lol. Thanks for taking the time to read and sorry that it's not particularly good one; hope you get something from it though ^.^

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter: __[01] : Little Kakashi :_

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><p><em>Sakumo looked down at his small son, only five, but already a genin preparing for the annual chuunin exams to be held in six months. His small son, who was questioning his<em>_ father's actions; sounding far older that he should for a boy nearing six._

"_Little Kakashi," Sakumo smiled down at the child, placing a gentle and comforting hand on the boys spiky, silvered hair, sensing just how much the younger was definitely a part of the older man, without doubt; his son._

"_White Fang… Sakumo, it's time we left, we can't delay much longer," a feminine voice sounded next to the male Jounin, who turning his head slightly towards her, although not taking his eyes off his son, but nodded in acknowledgement._

"_Kakashi" his spoke, his voice hardening and much more commanding, something Kakashi recognized as a tone his father used only when he was about to leave for a mission, "You are to go and find Atsuko, and head to the Hokage, do you understand?" The older man spoke while kneeling down to get eye-level with his son, who nodded in recognition. _

"_Yes, father," his own childishly chubby face grew stern, hoping to match up to his father's expectations. Sakumo gave one last somber smile before nodding to his team mate before they left in a blur of black cloth and silver armour._

_Kakashi waited a moment, until the only sound he could hear was the slight rustling of leaves from the gentle breeze. Already dressed in his shinobi training outfit, he too left the house in search of his best friend, and daughter of his father's team mate; Atsuko._

Kakashi stood in front of the KIA stone with a hand in his pocket; it was nearing 10 o'clock in the morning. He scanned his one visible eye down the list of names, quickly find that of his friend; but he could never help himself looking for his family name. Despite knowing that the full name of who he was searching for would never be inscribed. Having accepted the deterioration and eventual death as of his father, it seemed a little sad that the only memory such a great shinobi is in the minds of the much older members of the village. He sighed and decided it was probably time to go and see the Hokage about his next mission, he turned and wandered away feeling a little restless.

Being in front of that stone always seems to bring him back to those same memories of his younger years. Especially, when he tried to avoid looked at a certain name beginning in 'Y'.

"Ah, Kakashi, I'm glad that you found the time to show up," the Hokage quipped, being rather more mischievous than one would expect for such an 'old man'.

"Uhh, sorry, I passed a black cat on my way and so had to take an alternate route…" he trailed off of his pathetic excuse, scratching the back of his head, while the other Jounin in the room didn't other to hide their unimpressed expressions.

"Now, shall we take a look at your new Genin?" Kakashi passed his eye lazily around the other Jounin, who all looked intently at the Hokage's 'crystal ball' of sorts …_Genin?_ He thought slowly, his brain still lingering on his thoughts from the KIA stone earlier.

As and image appeared showing a classroom full of youngish teenagers, it slowly began to focus on two boys who Kakashi recognized as Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. _That's right, a small group of young Genin I'm supposed to be training_, as the group looked closer a strange and rather disturbing set of events took place, as Naruto crouched in front of Sasuke on his desk, a young boy named Shikamaru, nudged Naruto forward, colliding with Sasuke. Unfortunately, it happened to be their lips which met first… the entire group of Jounin became aghast with disgust and some amusement as to the antics of the two.

_Why did I have to get stuck with these two as part of the group? _ He thought lazily, knowing they would be a large disruption to his peace. After the Hokage has finished explaining the situation, and which Jounin would be assigned to which team of Genin, Kakashi was rather relieved to learn that he wouldn't have to meet them until the mid-afternoon. He really wasn't in the mood to meet noisy Genin right after a briefing.

As he ambled out of the building, following the other Jounin, as it happened a few paces behind Kurenai and Asuma. As they eventually left the building Kakashi noticed a vaguely familiar female form leaning against the railing of the entrance.

"See you later, Asuma," Kurenai spoke in his direction as she received a wink in return from him,

"Kurenai, how was the briefing? Know who your Genin are yet?" the voice spoke, and Kakashi realized who it was after he got a few steps closer, _Atsuko_.

"Yea, not too bad by the look of it, but anyway, while you have a break, let's get some lunch." Kurenai spoke with the smile obvious through her tone.

As Kakashi passed right by them, he caught the gaze of the now apparent ANBU member, judging by her armour; she looked right back at him, but made little acknowledgement that she recognized him. He allowed his eye to linger a moment longer, but turned his attention to his book and continued on his way, _how odd, I didn't think she knew Kurenai so well… but then, she has changed a lot,_ he thought about how his memory depicted her as being so short, but she looked as though she'd easily be the height of his shoulder. It also wasn't lost on him at how her body was thin and taught, shaped by years of hard training and missions called for by being a Kuniochi.

Not to mention she wore a mask covering her face and neck below her cheek bones… _maybe my style's catching on_ he thought to himself with amusement.

~~/********/~~

She stood outside the Hokage's office keeping her demeanor patient and subtle, as she waited for Kurenai to appear after her briefing about her genin training. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable being in the centre of the village in the middle of the day, she liked her privacy. Eventually, a few Jounin began to appear, and as Kurenai and Asuma left the building, she realized they weren't quite last. She couldn't mistake that wild, silver hair.

"Kurenai, how was the briefing? Know who your Genin are yet?" she asked pleasantly, wanting to ignore the other Jounin,

"Yea, not too bad by the look of it, but any way, while you have a break, let's get some lunch." Kurenai responded pleasantly, just as Atsuko looked to her left and caught the eye of Kakashi, she stared at him for a moment, still with his bored expression. She'd seem him around the village a few times before, but as it wasn't her habit to wander around in the day, and even if she had to, she doubted he'd seen her. Especially as she pulled a simple cloth mask over the bottom of her face, so that she couldn't be recognized. She rather disliked conversation when it wasn't with someone she was already friendly with.

She and Kurenai wandered off to a stall, collected a bento box each and headed down to a quiet park on the edge of the training grounds, close to one of Atsuko's favourite spots. They chatted a while, and Atsuko felt that she had to work hard to laugh at Kurenai's jokes in the right places, and allowed certain smiles to linger on her face in order to keep her friend thinking that she was happy.

"Atsuko, I'm glad that you came out today, I so rarely get to see you, that I worry sometimes… you're so often alone,"

"Ah, don't worry, the number of high level missions Sarutobi-sama gives me that I get used to only coming out at night, when it tends to be safer… well, as I've gotten used to," Atsuko forced a laugh back,

"Hey," Kurenai returned, "why don't you join Asuma, a few other Jounin and I for drinks in a few nights? I'll try and find Anko and Iruka, even if his is only a Chuunin!" she grinned, although Atsuko smiled back, she had reservations, pausing from her lunch, she looked away,

"Maybe… I don't know. I don't know my mission schedule yet, as it's the beginning of the week… can I let you know later?" Kurenai narrowed her eyes for a moment, wondering if this was just another nice way to say no,

"Sure, but I'll ask you again tomorrow and I want a definite answer!"

"You mean, a definite yes?" Atsuko quipped.

"Mmmmh" Kurenai gave a cryptic response, but her face said it all, _yes._

Once they'd finished their lunch, Atsuko remembered a question she meant to ask Kurenai, having seen Kakashi still with a headband over his eye. When she'd spoken to him last, the bandage was there, but she'd assumed that he'd merely sustained an injury. Although Atsuko kept to herself, she was by no means deaf, his nick name of 'the copy nin' she'd heard, but was unsure where or how he'd earned it.

"Kurenai, why does Kakashi wear his forehead protector over his eye? Last I spoke to him it was bandaged, and I hear his nickname as the 'copy nin', what's that all about?"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow, "last you spoke to him, it was bandaged? You mean just over ten years ago?" you nodded in affirmation, "well, his friend at the time, Uchiha Obito was on the verge of death, and he gave his Sharingan as a present to Kakashi back during the war. Although he can't deactivate it, so he keeps it covered until needed it so it doesn't drain chakra."

She nodded in understanding, _well, that makes a little more sense_, she leaned back in the sunlight and thought more about how much she'd forgotten of her childhood.

_She was practicing her taijutsu with Kakashi, as they waited in the Hokage's building for Sakumo-san and Kaa-san to return from their mission. It was frustrating work for the younger of the two, Yamagata Atsuko, as every attack she landed on the slightly older boy, he seemed to block with the greatest of ease. While also landing some of his own sharp punches on her. _

_Although not too many._

"_Alright, that's enough" the Hokage spoke with such a gentle and commanding tone, both children immediately obeyed him. "I think you should take Atsuko-Chan back to your house and wait for your father, Kakashi-kun, he will be home soon and you two both need your rest." _

_Kakashi opened his mouth initially to argue, but decided against it, "Yes, Hokage-sama" both children bowed, as Kakashi clasped Atsuko's small hand in one of his own, and tugged her out of the office behind him and back in the direction of Kakashi's home._

_As Kakashi made them both tea, Atsuko sat with her usual quiet reserve, _

"_Atsuko-Chan, why are you so quiet?" The immature, but reassuring voice of Kakashi broke her train of thoughts, as he brought in a small tray of tea,_

"_Huh? Oh…nothing, Kakashi-kun, I was just… thinking." Kakashi looked at her with a small frown playing on his as yet, unmasked face. But before he could say anything else, there was a harsh thump outside the door, which flew open a few seconds later. Stood there, was Kakashi's father, Sakumo holding his teammate and friend limp in his arms, Yamagata Eiko; Atsuko's mother._

"Atsuko!" a sharp call of her name, brought her back to the present, almost grateful that Kurenai had caught her attention when she had.

"Yes?"

"I think it's time I went to go meet my Genin, thanks for meeting me for lunch, and think about those drinks," she finished with a grin, as she got up and walked off taking her empty bento box with her. Atsuko remained in her seated position on the grass, still not feeling as though she could be bothered to return home – or go to see the Hokage regarding her next mission.


	2. Not Bad

Sorry this chapter's a little short (as most of them are a little on the petite side, sorry about that!)

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [02] : Not Bad :_

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><p>Kakashi <em>was<em> sat peacefully on a tree branch somewhere near the KIA stone, but some familiar voices disturbed, which he recognized as Kurenai and Atsuko. Feeling mildly interested, he lowered his Chakra and remained where he was, still and silent. Turning his head just enough to get the two women in his eye line, he observed the woman he hadn't properly set eyes on in just over ten years, despite the fact they lived in the same village. It was rather a strange sight to see the two women talking so freely, and unaware of their observer, as he wasn't much in the business of eavesdropping.

Atsuko seemed fine and happy, her mask pulled down, clearly revealed her soft smile and a gently featured face. But there was definitely something forced about that laugh, which made Atsuko seem so out of place, sat there with the social and out going Kurenai…_ well, I suppose they must have found common ground somewhere…_ he slowly pondered. Eventually, Atsuko leaned back on the grass and something of a thoughtful expression appeared lightly on her face, tinged with a small smile which slowly turned to a rather grim one. _I wonder what's on her mind? _

As Kurenai left, and Atsuko was left alone, her expression became a more solemn one; she sat up and tipped her head forward, allowing a short mop of dark hair to cover the front of her face. She pulled her mask back over the bottom of her face as she rose to her feet, apparently needing to move on. Kakashi, was about to turn back to the rest of his book, but not before he through he heard two words he'd never have expected,

"Sakumo-sama" just as the words had escaped her lips, she shot off in a small black blur. Kakashi, in thinking about what she'd said managed to read the same line in his 'novel' seven times. Snapping his book shut in irritation, he skulked off to find his three trainees… Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

After a troublesome introduction to the three, first having a prank played on him, then being yelled at for being late; he was already tired of them. As he led them to the roof, he supposed a quick introduction would be in order.

"Well, why don't we find out a little more about each other? How about you tell me your names, likes, dislikes and hopes for the future." He leaned back against the railing of the roof as the three sat on a step in front of him,

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't you go first?" The ever loud and definitely _not_ shy Naruto exclaimed, Kakashi sighed,

"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes are… I dislike certain things, and my dreams for the future…I don't feel like telling you." He responded, in a rather empty and bored fashion; feeling the same disinterest for their dreams or likes as he feel in telling them his own, "I have many hobbies…"

As a direct result, he ignored them, except with the occasional nod, to make it seems as though he was listening.

"All right, we'll meet tomorrow at dawn, at the training grounds; and make sure you don't eat breakfast, or you'll throw-up."

"Why, why?" Naruto asked excitedly, while Kakashi internally sighed,

"It's a test" he replied shortly, as he disappeared in a flash of green and navy, _Oh well, I suppose I'm stuck with this group of young Genin… What a bunch of idiots, no doubt they'll fail my little test tomorrow._ He thought gloomily, head back in the direction of his apartment, hoping to find some peace.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

"Atsuko," Kurenai, called out to her friend as she was just leaving having met her Genin, "Atsuko, good timing, eh?" The slightly younger ANBU blinked slowly at her friend,

"Maybe, depends what you're going to force me to agree too,"

"Haha, well, just a quick drink, tomorrow night, with Asuma, Anko, Iruka and myself… and maybe someone else…" she smirked,

"Who?"

"Sorry, you'll have to find out when you meet us," Atsuko sighed quietly to herself, _why do I get the feeling Kurenai means Kakashi? Well, it might be good to get out for once,_

"Well… I haven't had any sake for a while… and it would be good to see Daisuke again," Atsuko said more to herself than Kurenai,

"Daisuke? You mean the bar tend?" she queried, "an interest for non-shinobi?" Kurenai was grinning in a rather disturbing fashion.

"No, he's a nice guy and _doesn't _bother me about disappearing for a few months, nor ask me irrelevant questions like 'why do you wear a mask?'" Atsuko finished, feeling a little irritated, she knew that she had no interest in him; he was just a nicer character that most of the villagers she met when not on a mission.

"Well," Kurenai said eyeing her dubiously, "I'm taking that as a yes, you're coming out tomorrow; you wouldn't want to keep certain people waiting, now would you?" Kurenai turned and wandered away, laughing to herself a little as Atsuko stared at her friend, _either she's more mad than you'd think, or just loves to interfere…_

"Oh, well… at least there'll be alcohol to drown away any more of Kurenai's 'plans'," she spoke quietly to herself, now feeling a slight interest as to what tomorrow night might turn out like. As she continued on her path, which took her past Ichikaru's ramen, she noticed the unmistakable lack of subtly that was Naruto. As he was leaving the stall he set eyes on the woman in front of him, "Wah…you wear a mask like Kakashi-sensei!" as he pointed a finger in her direction, _Kakashi-sensei?_ She thought, _never have guessed Kakashi would end up as a teacher_.

"What of it?" she asked slowly, raising an eyebrow to him,

"Well, why do you wear a mask like him?" he asked, he sounded rude, but she could sense he didn't mean to be so brash,

"I like my privacy." She responded simply,

"What's you're name? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! And I'll be the next Hokage!" He exclaimed brightly, with and undertone of seriousness, Atsuko couldn't help but crack a small smile in his direction at his endless determination; although the mask covered all evidence of any emotion.

"You really want to know my name? Even though you've probably never seen me before, have no idea who I am, and doubtlessly know nothing about me?" She quizzed slowly, she wasn't a liar by nature and hoped instead to avoid the question.

Naruto stared carefully at her before answering slowly, "Well, I haven't see you before, but I know that you're an ANBU, you like your privacy, you're a Kuniochi, you're like Kakashi-sensei!" he responded, growing on confidence, ending up with a smile on his face.

"How am I like Kakashi?" she asked, finding herself a little curious,

"You wear a mask, you look bored like him and you don't seem to get angry with me like others do," he responded looking a little troubled. Atsuko leaned down a little to get closer to his eye line,

"Not bad, Naruto; I'm Yamagata Atsuko," she responded quietly, standing up straight again and disappearing in flash of silver and navy.

Naruto stood for a moment, pondering who exactly he'd just met, and why she acted so oddly, _Oh well, I guess what Iruka-sensei says is true; shinobi must suppress all emotion_… He frowned a little, but walked off to the training grounds for a little practice in preparation for Kakashi-sensei test the next day.


	3. Long Time, No See

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [03] : Long Time, No See :_

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><p>Kakashi wandered back to his apartment, having tested his Genin and much to his surprise, they passed. He didn't think that teamwork would occur to those three, clashing personality traits are troublesome in a Shinobi's work. He eventually made it back to his apartment where it seemed that no sooner had he gotten comfortable reading Icha Icha Paradise, when a knock at his door disturbed him.<p>

"Hai?" he opened the door to reveal Iruka,

"Kakashi-sampai, Kurenai asked me to tell you that we're going out for a drink tonight, and to ask if you wanted to join us." He spoke brightly,

"Whose 'us'?" Kakashi asked back, lazily, already erring on the side of 'no',

"Well, Kurenai, Asuma, Anko, myself and err… one other Kuniochi, I don't know her name, but she seems friendly with Kurenai-sampai," Kakashi looked back at Iruka, not letting his piqued interest clear to the Chuunin, _could he mean Atsuko?_

"Hmm… maybe, I haven't had any sake for a while," Iruka's eye widened somewhat,

"Y-you're coming?" he asked, looking a little shocked, to which Kakashi only nodded in response, "Great, well, we'll meet at the bar at eight, I'll go and let Kurenai-sampai know!" the younger man dashed away, as Kakashi sighed and wondered if he made the right decision.

Atsuko followed Kurenai, Asuma and Iruka up to the bar as they ordered; Atsuko saw a familiar figure walk over to her,

"Atsuko, I haven't seen you for a while," he spoke smoothly to her, flashing a brilliant smile,

"Daisuke," she nodded in return, while allowing a smile to show through her eyes,

"Well, I think I can assume you've been busy with missions, so I think some good sake is in order," he kept his eyes to hers, as he picked up a bottle of sake and two small cups,

"Who's the other cup for?" she asked politely, as Daisuke gave a cheeky grin,

"Can't I have a small drink with a beautiful Kuniochi?" he asked back, mischievously. Atsuko merely rolled her eyes, and placed a few notes on the bar, having changed earlier into more usual, albeit more feminine shinobi attire. Daisuke placed his hand on hers and pushed it back towards her,

"No, it's on the house," he smiled _again_.

"Oh, well, thank you Daisuke, in that case, I suppose I owe you a small cup of sake,"

She poured out two small cups of the alcoholic drink, she pulled down her mask just enough to expose her mouth as they both downed it in one. Daisuke never taking his eyes of the woman in front of him, enjoying seeing the whole of her face; Atsuko replaced her mask, and picked up the bottle and cup,

"Thank you Daisuke, but I shouldn't neglect the company," she smiled at him and walked away, unaware that she was being followed by a number of pairs of eyes.

"You don't hang around do you?" Kurenai nearly shouted as Atsuko neared their table in the corner,

"What are you talking about?"

"You were flirting with him; you were flirting like mad with Daisuke!" she retorted instantly, as Atsuko sat down on one of the three remaining chairs, ensuring her back was to the rest of the bar.

"Kurenai, its called being polite, he gave me the bottle of Sake for free," Atsuko knew she'd made a mistake saying it,

"Free?" Kurenai looked dumbfounded, "are you sure you're not blind? _Clearly_ he likes you, why the hell don't you stay over there? You never know," she winked,

Atsuko rolled her eyes, "I don't like him; he's just a strange bar tender who probably acts like that with all the women in here," she poured out a cup of sake, dragging down her mask and taking a slow drink the potent liquid down, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable. Leaving her mask down, she looked straight at her friend,

"Kurenai, please, I came here to drink sake, not have lectures on the weird people I talk to," she stated, with a slightly angered look on her face, as she took another drink of sake. Asuma and Iruka merely gave her a strange look, not only as they hadn't seen her much at all before and not with her mask off, and at the very bizarre sentence she just said.

"What?" she looked at the two guys staring at her weirdly, asking in a more polite tone,

"Nothing Atsuko, that just might be the first time I've seen you angry," he quipped.

"I dunno what's wrong with you lot, but I think you're all mad," she stated simply, feeling the need to re-cover her face.

"Ah, here comes the cavalry," Asuma spoke a little time later, as Kurenai and Iruka looked over to them,

"Hey, you lot, and…" Anko placed a hand on the woman's should she didn't recognize, and span her around a little, "Atsuko? Since when do you come out for a drink?" she exclaimed, as she took a seat next to her ANBU friend. Atsuko smiled lightly, allowing it to show through her eyes,

"Well, two surprises today, Kurenai! Are you sure I haven't forgotten my birthday?" She said with a slight laugh,

"Two?" Atsuko asked back, slightly confused,

"I found that one loitering outside," she said, jerking a thumb towards the bar, "So I made him buy me a drink ahah." Atsuko turned around and saw Kakashi walking towards the group carrying a bottle of sake and two cups. He took a seat at the table, and nodded in recognition to the other Jounin, still wondering exactly what he was doing here. Knowing he wouldn't get an exact answer, he brought out his book he hadn't quite finished yet.

"Life of the party as always, Kakashi," Kurenai directed at him with a light smile, to which all she got was a bored look from him.

More than a few bottles of sake and some time later, almost all the company was looking a little worse for wear. During this time, Anko, who had sat next to Atsuko and Kakashi, had taken an interest in Iruka and forced Atsuko to swap seats with her. While Kurenai and Asuma were whispering to each other, likewise with Iruka and Anko, Atsuko was at a loss with what, if anything she was supposed to say to Kakashi. Presently, Asuma and Kurenai got up out of their seats, forcing Kakashi to lean right over, cramping her personal space. As the two other Jounin ran off over to the bar, Atsuko stood, feeling as though she could handle another drink,

"Fancy one more?" she asked the Jounin to her left, who nodded in response. As she approached the bar, Daisuke was again there, watching her like a hawk,

"Two cups of sake please," she asked steadily, and got a smile and a wink from him, he placed the two in front of her,

"So, is that extra cup for me?" he asked,

"No, for a friend of mine," she placed the money on the counter and walked off, not in the mood for his antics at this time.

Kakashi had his head still buried in his book at this time, he felt a little bad but no one was making an effort to talk to him, so he saw no reason to disturb Atsuko from that quiet reserve he instantly recognized. As a hand and a small cup of sake appeared in front of him, he put his book down for a moment.

"Arigato, Atsuko." It was probably the first thing he'd said all night,

"It's alright, but you're going back for the next," she said, with a hint of irritation.

"Any specific reason for that?" he asked suppressing his amusement, upon seeing her unimpressed, and unmasked face,

"Daisuke, seems he won't leave me alone, I just want a damn drink." She spoke with a little fatigue, Kakashi was about to open his mouth and say something else, but someone beat him to it,

"So this is what you meant by _'friend'_" a young male voice interrupted them, and Kakashi saw Atsuko roll her eyes before turning to the bar tender.

"Yes, exactly what I said, Daisuke, what's the problem?" there was an obvious tone to her voice – well, as it seemed to the Jounin sat next to her. He flashed a pleasant grin, and took the stool on her far side,

"So you won't mind if I have a quick chat then?"

"Daisuke-"

"Good," he grinned, cutting her off before she could say no, "So, what are your plans for the rest of the night?" he leaned on the stable a little, in an attempt to keep her eye line away from Kakashi.

"Well, probably taking those two home," pointing at Iruka and Anko chatting quietly on the next table, "and finding two other Jounin around here." She turned around back past Kakashi and looking out over the establishment. She turned back to face the table, ensuring that her voice was unemotional and final.

"And after?" he leaned a little closer towards her, "You know, your _friend_ here, could take the others home, and _I_ can take _you_ home," he allowed a small, seductive smile to creep on his lips. Kakashi frowned a little, a picked his book back up; there's little more irritating or uncomfortable than someone 'trying it on' and their complete ignorance of the other party's disinterest.

"Sorry, no, Daisuke; _perhaps _another time." She stated, finishing her final cup of sake, and standing up from the stool,

"Kakashi, I might see you around some time," she bowed her head a little, and walked over to Iruka and Anko.

"Anko, Iruka, are you ready to leave?" Atsuko asked politely,

"No, no, I'm fine, it's a free day tomorrow, and I'm still fine for another drink"

"Anko-"

"It's alright, Atsuko-sampai, I'll make sure she gets home safely," Atsuko gave him a dubious look, but knew that most of the other Jounin trusted him.

"Ok, see you later, Iruka… oh, have you seen Kurenai and Asuma?" She asked, nearly before forgetting,

"Yea, they left a while ago." He said, smiling back up Atsuko with his usual demeanor, she thanked him and turned to leave; but not before Daisuke, got one final word in. Just before she left, he caught her by the door.

"I look forward to seeing you next time," he leaned his head toward her, but she turned away at the last moment, "Goodbye, Daisuke." She ducked away from him and walked straight out of the bar. She stood out in the cool air for a moment, enjoying the dulled music noise and cool air; she let out a sigh of relief.

"No one to be found?" A voice queried, as she turned back to see her_ friend_ stood just outside the bar door. She allowed a small smirk to grace her lips,

"Nah, Iruka seems sober enough to keep an eye on Anko, and apparently Kurenai and Asuma left a little while ago." She said, with a hint of relief to be able to go straight home.

"Sure Daisuke won't be joining you?" he asked with a strange tone in his voice, she guessed it must be amusement, as he took a few steps to catch up as she began to walk home.

"I dunno what that guy's problem is, but it's getting annoying," she rubbed a hand over her forehead,

"Isn't it obvious?" Kakashi asked with mild amusement, eye-ing her carefully; she glanced over, with a less than impressed expression,

"Please, don't turn into Kurenai," Kakashi could help but let out a small chuckle,

"Well, at least she isn't blind; maybe she can make you see sense."

"Sense about what? That crazy bar tender?"

"He clearly likes you, so what's _your_ problem?" With that, Atsuko stopped completely, and turned towards her companion,

"Firstly, he only acts like that because I was the only female in that place without a guy clearly attached; and secondly, why on earth are you so interested?" She folded her arms and cocked her head slightly,

He stared at her for a moment, with a bored expression on his eye, "Don't know… it's just a funny situation really." He eventually responded, as Atsuko's expression fell, as though not quite believing the response he'd managed.

"You're such a charmer…" she quipped, "no wonder the Hokage put you with Naruto."

"How do you know that?" he asked, clearly interested,

"I ran into Naruto yesterday… strange kid, but not too bad. Funny though, I never could imagine you as a teacher; I always thought that you swerved so much from too strict to being too soft," she laughed a little at the memory, "It always changed when… your father and my mother were on a mission." She bowed her head a little; as the memory returned,

_"M-mama?" Atsuko dropped the cup of tea and scrabbled to her feet and ran over to Sakumo as he placed the lifeless woman on his sofa. "Mama, mama!" she tugged on her mother's shirt in an effort to wake her, as tears helplessly fell down her cheeks. _

_"Atsuko," Sakumo's once calming and friendly voice – or so it seems to her – was now cold and serious, as he placed a gently hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him "Atsuko, I'm sorry, your mother was killed in a battle with some notorious missing nin, she fought as hard as she could, but there were too many for us… I'm so sorry Atsuko" She stared coldly back up at the older shinobi, despite being half blinded by tears; he pulled her into a hug, which seemed to swallow her. A feeling she remembered liking, but _not_ now, she pushed back against him, with as much force as she could muster in her current state._

_"No, no! How could you let mama die? How can she die? She is supposed to be stronger than this!" the small child would have collapsed in sobs were it not for Sakumo keeping his arms around her in a close hug. The older shinobi's face was hard and remorseful, Atsuko was a daughter to Sakumo, for all the times he'd been Eiko's partner or one or other of them had been on a mission, both their children were there for each other. _

Kakashi forced her back to reality with his next sentence, "My father always carefully instructed me to keep a close eye on you; I did what I was told in those days." He replied lazily, with all hints of emotion carefully removed.

"Mmmh…" A response almost as cryptic as the one Kurenai had given the day before; as they rounded the corner close to her apartment, she stopped walking completely; having only just noticed that Kakashi had essentially walked her home.  
>"Well, thank you, Kakashi… it was… good to see you again. I'm not sure why it's been so long." Asking the question mostly to herself.<p>

"It doesn't matter, as long as it's not another ten years before I see you next." He spoke quietly enough but the smile was obvious in his voice.

"Goodnight, Kakashi, I'm sure I'll see you again soon," she gave him a small smile before she slipped quickly up the open steps between two ground floor apartments, and up to hers just above the ground floor one.


	4. Sorry To Disturb

**I Still Remember : **

_Chapter : [04] : Sorry To Disturb :_

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><p>Kakashi stood a moment, still considering the conversation he'd just had with a woman he'd thought he'd forgotten. There were many traits he recognized, but definitely some he didn't; <em>she probably thinks the same about me<em> he thought with slight amusement, as he turned to head to his own apartment. He meandered back down the streets of Konoha while reading with the little light available, trying to push the thoughts and questions out of his head, but there was one thing she said which he couldn't help but remember the situation which made her words falter.

_Throughout the sudden commotion, all Kakashi could do was stand and stare, between the blood soaked woman lying motionless on the sofa and between his father and his best friend. He struggled to fully accept the situation, he couldn't remember having seen Atsuko cry so hard, he couldn't imagine what it would be like never seeing Eiko-san again, he barely remembered his father having such a grim expression on his face… He'd never seen death up so close before…_

_"Kakashi," Sakumo's deep voice broke the revere, "Atsuko will sleep in your room tonight, keep a close eye on her and do not let her leave the house." Kakashi nodded and followed his father, now carrying an asleep Atsuko into Kakashi's room, and placing her gently in the bed. "If anything happens, I'll be with the Hokage, you can send Kujui to find me," as the elder summoned a small dog with black fur, which wore a hatai-ite. Kakashi nodded again, and followed his father back to where Eiko's body was lying, Sakumo picked her up and disappeared in a small puff of smoke. _

_Kakashi, feeling a little bewildered as all that had happened in barely 10 minutes, turned and walked back into his room and climbed on to the futon next to Atsuko. Fighting the urge to sleep, he looked at his friend's tear stained and tired sleeping face. He waited as patiently as he could for his father to return; deeply uncertain of what would happen next._

As he slammed the door of his apartment, he was feeling very weary; it had been a much more stressful night – for many reasons – than he'd anticipated from the 'quick drink' Iruka had suggested. He prepared himself for bed and climbed in, definitely ready to sleep allowing his thoughts to turn once more back to his old friend, and wondering when exactly, they stopped being friends.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

As it happened, Kakashi didn't see Atsuko – literally neither hide nor hair for some months, during which he and his genin had managed to complete and A-rank mission due to their client, Tazuna-san's financial situation that they were miss-informed as to what was going on. They'd also completed many other missions and all three were developing well, despite their occasional lapses in teamwork. Kakashi was wandering to the bridge to meet his genin and hand them their forms for entrance to the Chuunin exam; although he was feeling less than impressed at Iruka's uncertainty as to their capabilities.

"Hi," he said, waving a little as he appeared seemingly from no where in front of his genin,

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei and what are we doing today?" Naruto asked, full of energy as usual,

"Well, I've entered you for the Chuunin exams, so you'll need to fill out these slips, and hand them into room 301 and 3pm. You can all choose individually if you'd like to take the exam." He finished, sounding bored as usual,

"Wow, really?" All three had their own reaction, but eventually zoomed off to go and fill out the forms. As Kakashi spotted Kurenai walking a little hurriedly _I wonder if she knows where Atsuko is?_ He wondered as he hopped down and slowly followed Kurenai at a distance, thinking about what he wanted to ask the ANBU. He allowed Kurenai to disappear out of sight while keeping lock on her chakra signature while suppressing his own, as he got close enough he noticed that Atsuko's was also present. _Excellent_, he hopped out of sight into a few trees and waited for Kurenai to leave; sensing it may be a while, he pulled out his book and flicked to the right page. He couldn't hear anything of their conversation, but he could see some of Atsuko's expressions which ranged from a sweat drop to a slightly odd, if not confused expression but it wasn't until he heard his own name that he became interested,

"K-Kakashi? Are you nuts?" Atsuko cried out, while Kurenai tried to hush her a little, Kakashi used a hear Jutsu which he's learned some years ago from a sound nin, he knew he shouldn't but he _was_ curious – and it did involve him… sort of.

"Come, on what happened after you left the bar with him?"

"What do you think? We just chatted for a bit after I escaped Daisuke, and he sort of walked me home… we just talked about stuff…"

"What stuff?"

"Genin, training, stuff like that," Atsuko responded sounding a little annoyed, as Kurenai rolled her eyes,

"Well, do you like him or not?"  
>"What's that got to do with anything? I'm just curious as to who the hell he is…I haven't set eyes on the guy for more than ten years so obviously he's not going to be the little kid I knew, is he?" Atsuko retorted yanking her mask over her face and folding her arms a little, "Please Kurenai? You seem so intent on pestering me about who I like or what I'm doing… or lack thereof. Why can't I just make a new friend?" Kurenai expelled a short breath in irritation,<p>

"Fine, but just think about it, okay? Ya never know!" Kurenai stood and waved goodbye to her friend, as Kakashi guessed this was his cue.

"Uhh, sorry to disturb, bit I couldn't help noticing you over here, and wondered if you're doing anything at the moment?" Atsuko gave him a lightly sarcastic look of '_really?_' but shook her head, as he crouched in front of her,

"Not really, why?"

"To be honest, I wondered if you'd like to have a quick sparring session?" he asked, scratching the back of his head in slight nervousness, Atsuko stared at him for a moment, but knew she was interested in what he was capable of too,

"Yea, actually, that would be good," she rose to her feet and stretched a little before asking, "Now?" to which Kakashi nodded, "Unless you have a mission or something tomorrow?"

"Nah, not for a few days," she responded, as they walked over to the training field, and flew apart a few feet, "Ready?" Kakashi nodded pulling his head band up to reveal his Sharingan, as she threw a few kunai at him, with added wind chakra to not only make them sharper, but harder to deflect, which Kakashi only just dodged, she immediately began the hand seals for a fire Jutsu which he began to copy resulting in a complete deflection of the attack, as the smoke cleared, he'd gone. Unsure where he might be, she widened her senses and found him underneath the ground, leaping up, she performed a lightening Jutsu, creating sharp daggers made of chakra shooting towards his location.

However he was skilled and dodged them easily, cancelling them with his own lightening type chakra attack as he flew towards her and they fought in taijutsu for a while each kick and punch easily deflected, they hurt a little but not serious injury was sustained. It seemed for the first few minutes that neither easily outstripped the other; _this was going to be one hell of a long spar_ she thought, happily glad her taijutsu had at least caught up to her old friend.

* * *

><p>I know its short and crap… sorry… This was more of a 'filler' chapter, my bad...<p> 


	5. Of Onigiri And Dumplings

..**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [05] : Of Onigiri and Dumplings :_

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><p>She'd been fighting Kakashi for the past day and previous night, she was definitely feeling the fatigue, but was determined to win against him. Dodging a Kunai, and performing some lightning speed hand seals as she leapt up to a branch and faced him, looking decidedly scary. Her special technique, as a wind chakra type looked as though she was two circular saws made of wind energy chakra on either side of her body tilted inwards in front of her, a near impenetrable defense. She raised her fist, as the same time kicking Kakashi off his balance as her foot was also surrounded by two blades of wind, which dug into his calf slightly. He eventually fell to the ground helpless with the surprise was evident on his face, as Atsuko raised her fist to strike him a lethal blow; but paused, the wind blades a few inches from his chest.<p>

"I think it's safe to say I won," She connected her eyes to his smiling allowing it to show through her eyes, with his Sharingan revealed, he calmed himself down a little and returned her smile as she cancelled the Jutsu and passed a hand to him, helping him to his feet.

As Kakashi regained his balance, and as they both jumped from the tree back to the ground, he returned his headband to it usual place over his left eye.

"That Sharingans pretty impressive, I didn't think I'd have to use my own Jutsu…" she trailed off not sure of how to finish her sentence, or even if there was any more to say.

"Yea," he stared, feeling his fatigue, both from – literally having the wind knocked out of him and from having to use his Sharingan for so long. He was a little grateful for it – he knew he needed to get stronger. "Ugh, I don't remember you ever beating me up that badly!" he looked over to her, which she returned the gaze with a thoughtful – if not slightly playful edge,

"I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled through her eyes at Kakashi's strange, but positive expression, "hey, is your leg alright? I think I hit it harder than I meant to," she asked, noticing he was beginning to stumble a little, just before he fell to the ground,  
>"Shit, what's wrong?" she asked a little concerned,<p>

"Can't move…chakra…drained…" he even stumbled over his words. Atsuko stared down at him for a minute, not sure what exactly was going on.

Focusing what little chakra she had left into her muscles, she crouch down and lifted up Kakashi's arm, and hauled his body weight over he shoulders in a slightly odd 'fireman's lift'. _God, was he heavy_ she thought grumbling a bit, her own strength was fading fast, but they weren't to far from Konoha hospital. As she slowly walked through the village, Atsuko did her best not to stumble and keep her pace even and fluid; or Kakashi might end up with one heck of a bruise when he woke up.

"Hey you, what the hell have you done to Kakashi!" a voice assaulted her peace, which she instantly recognized as Daisuke.

"He's just suffering from some chakra drain. I'm taking him to hospital since I'm the only one who can still move, but not for much longer, so please let me continue," she spoke quietly, but with a sharp undertone of authority,

"What were you doing?" Daisuke asked still not getting out of her way, she continued forwards walking around the man, who gave her an odd but slightly impressed look,

"Kakashi and I were sparring and I suppose we pushed ourselves too hard," she said as she continued; the hospital finally in sight.

"E-excuse me, what happened?" a nurse asked Atsuko as she entered the building, it much have been an odd sight to see one of their best Jounin out cold and being carried across the shoulders of a young woman probably half his size.

"We-were sparring and I think he's suffering from massive chakra drain… so I brought him here." As she eventually stumbled forward a little, catching her foot on a chair leg, she fell straight to the floor, Kakashi's weight making sure that she couldn't regain her balance in time.

"Ouch…" she managed to say, as she could barely breath,

"Oh no, _help!"_ the nurse cried out, as she rushed over to Atsuko, trying to lift the slightly older Jounin's dead weight. As two more nurse's arrived and eventually freed Atsuko, who by this time, could barely muster the strength to stand, her fatigue getting the better of her.

"Are you alright? What happened?" the nurse looked concerned, After Atsuko was lifted to her feet, and allowed to settle in a chair,

"Well, Kakashi-san and I were sparring since yesterday, from about two thirty, I think? We finished a few minutes ago, and then he just collapsed, I guess he suffering from chakra drain from using his Sharingan for too long," she stated clearly, in a tone difficult to read.

One of the doctors examined the man lying on the floor, and confirmed what Atsuko had been saying,

"Yes, only a little chakra drain, he'll be fine after a few days of bed rest; you should take him home, and keep an eye on him for a day or two. I'm sorry, but the hospital cannot spare a bed at the moment and qualified supervision is not necessary."

"What about the cut on his calf?" Atsuko asked, not liking the idea at all of having to _look after him_, much less having to intrude on him for two days. The doctor examined his leg for a moment, and applied some healing chakra to the wound and smiled back at Atsuko, "All sorted."

_Maybe I should have injured him a bit more…_ she thought, feeling irritated and uncomfortable knowing that he would greatly disturb both her peace and privacy.

"What's you name and address? We can use a body move technique straight to your house," the nurse explained,

"Yamagata, Atsuko; 14b Akoro street," she replied shortly as the nurses paused a moment, before performing a number of hand seals, before Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"We advise that you remove his headband and Chuunin vest, you can give him this when he wakes up; it's a high energy mixture, and he'll regain his strength a little quicker." The nurse handed her a small bottle of medicine,

"Arigato," she muttered not forgetting her manners as she trudged out of the hospital and in the direction of her home.

When she got inside and slammed the door behind her, she wandered around to find Kakashi lying on her bed, placing the small bottle on the bed side table, she pulled of his headband, noting quietly to herself that he seemed a little more attractive without it. With some effort she managed to lean him up enough to remove the cumbersome vest, also removing his _zori_ she left him alone, and decided a shower was in order. Just before leaving she wrote a small note and left it on the bedside table next to the small bottle.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Kakashi opened one eye slowly, staring at the ceiling, which looked a little like his own apartment ceiling; the smell in the air was a little different too – it definitely wasn't Konoha hospital. With more effort that it should have taken, he looked to his left and seeing a bed side table, with a small bottle and a note leaning against it with the evening light just enough to see by;

_Hi, _

_I took you to hospital but they told me to take you home as you weren't seriously injured and they didn't have much space, _apparently_. So you're at mine at the moment, you'll need to take the medicine in the little bottle, the doctor said it would help you recover faster._

_Atsuko._

Glancing over the room itself, it was a little messier than he would have expected but it definitely had a 'lived in' look. He closed his eyes again, still feeling too weary to move any further, but he forced himself to move his arm and grab the small medicine bottle and forcing himself to lean his head forward enough to take a small swig. It didn't taste as bad as he first imagined; allowing his eyes to close again, he slipped back into sleep.

He could sense the light through his closed eye lids, but not bothering to open them he allowed himself to lie there in the calm feeling relaxed. He could hear a few footsteps approaching the room, and the door being pushed gently open,

"Huh, that's not good," he heard Atsuko's voice, speaking quietly to herself, opening his eye, and turning his head to look at her, he wondered what the problem was; seeing that she was staring at one of his hands.

"Atsuko?" he asked, wearily, she stared back with an exasperated expression,

"Did you have to fall asleep _that_ quickly?"

"Huh?" he asked looking down at his hand to see that he'd forgotten to put the bottle back on the table, or even to replace the top on it. Resulting in the fact that he'd managed to spill the whole thing over the bed, "oh kuso… I'm sorry," She shook her head,

"Don't worry about it, can you sit up?" she took a step closer, gesturing for him to try and taking the now empty bottle from him. He pushed himself up a little, managing a couple of inches, Atsuko placed a hand on his upper right arm and forced him up, to which he groaned in disapproval, managing to swing his legs slowly off the side of the bed.

"Come on, you'll have to put up with the sofa for a while and I'll try and wash whatever that was out of my sheets." She grumbled a little as she took a seat next to him, passing his arm over her shoulders and placing an arm around his waist. She managed to get to his feet, but he was a little shaky,

"Please try not to fall over, I'm in no shape to move you anywhere this time,"

"What?" he asked confused, as they managed to stagger out of the room,

"How else do you think you ended up here? _God damn_ you're heavy, if you fall, then you'll have to stay there until you can move yourself." She said, with slight hints of amusement in her voice, Kakashi could do little but laugh in response as they made it to the sofa, and basically fell back, their resulting position must have looked rather strange. That they both sat looking a little tired, with Kakashi's arm around her shoulders, which neither could be bothered to move.

"Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?" she asked, feeling lazy but getting steadily more restless.

"… uh… yea, I guess I do feel a bit hungry…" he replied slowly, trying to ignore the nagging hunger.

"Well, I think all that's left is got some onigiri and dumplings…" she trailed off, having not really thought much about what she had left, "happy with that?" she asked, looking at him, as he nodded in reply,

"Yea, that sounds good," she leaned forwards and hauled her small frame off the sofa and wandered behind him to where the small kitchen adjoined.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

He followed her movement with his eye as she got up from her seat next to him, and wandered away as he allowed his arm to fall back down onto the cushion next to him, still feeling a little fatigued – and a little stressed. She look much more slim having removed her ANBU armour and having removed her mask, so that he could see the whole of her face properly, this time. He could hear the noise of the steamer, cooking the dumplings and the slight chink of plates, he wondered if this was something close what Atsuko felt like when they returned to his house when their respective parents were on a mission, and he would make her tea, or sometimes a snack after their training sessions together.

"Kakashi," breaking his brief reminiscing, "Would you like some tea?" she asked, in her own unassuming voice,

"Please," he responded, feeling noticeably better having been made to move, even though his body gave him hell for doing so, his mind felt a little clearer. She brought in a small tray with a pot and two small cups placing them on the low table just in front of the sofa, pouring him one and handing it over; she politely spoke again, not looking him in the eye,

"It won't be long; can I get you anything else?" she stood and wandered the few paces over to the adjoining kitchen,

"…No, thank you." He knew what certain _book_ he'd like, but he doubted he'd find it here, not to mention that he didn't want to ask too much of her, considering that he hadn't seen her in just over a decade, he was lucky enough that she was willing to help him in this state.

"How did you manage to carry me back through Konoha?" he asked, the curiosity getting the better of him, and, strangely the silence was making him a little uneasy.

"Well, I just transferred some chakra to my muscles, enough to get you off the ground, and it wasn't too bad after that," she responded as though describing how to ride a bike or something, rather than the fact she managed to pick up an unconscious man probably double her weight.

"It was a bit funny really, I bumped into Daisuke unusually on the way and he accused me of doing something weird to you, be glad he didn't stop me for too long, or you'd probably have some god-awful bruise by now," she finished carrying over two plates of four dumplings and two onigiri, and a pair of chopsticks.

"Thank you." He responded, feeling that Daisuke would have some weird opinion of him, but Daisuke didn't particularly matter much to him.

He noticed Atsuko place her plate on the small table in front of them and kneel down to it, with her back to him in the process. Guessing she was unaware of how much more comfortable it made him feel, he pulled down his mask and clasped a dumpling between the chopsticks, noting how well they were cooked. He finished a good few minutes before she did, and could only wait for her to take the plate off of him, which she did, soon after.


	6. Icha Icha

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><strong>

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><p><strong>I Still Remember:<strong>

_Chapter : [06] : Icha Icha :_

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><p>After Atsuko had done the washing up, she went and sat in the armchair adjacent to the sofa Kakashi was sat on and placed her heel easily on the edge of the table, looking rather relaxed.<p>

"Hey, I might take a quick walk in a minute and buy some more supplies, would you like me to pick up anything?" she queried, looking directly at him. He felt a little uncomfortable at the complete unwavering of her stare,

"uh… well… could you pick me up something from my place?" he asked, unusually with a little hesitation,

"Of course, what would you like?" she asked, brightly,

"Uh… well, my… uh _Icha Icha paradise _and_ Violence_, if possible," he asked, scratching the back of his head, more out of habit, although he quickly winced in pain and dropped his arm.

"Of course, no problem… do you want some painkillers as well?" she asked with a hint of concern, Kakashi grinned in response to her answer he didn't quite expect.

"Nah, I'll be fine," she nodded in response and disappeared to her room for a moment, returning in some clean Shinobi attire and her mask as yet loose around her chin. With the front and back of her hair short and under control, but her long mid-neck length bangs were not so obedient, but Kakashi saw little wrong with it.

"Here," Kakashi reaching into his pocket, but to no avail, painfully shifting a little he tried the other pocket, still nothing, "uh… do you know where my vest is?" he asked, a little worried that he'd somehow managed to loose his key.

"Yea, hang on," she stepped back into her room, and fetched his jacket regretting slightly that she'd forgotten to hang it up rather than leave it slung messily over the back of a chair. Handing it to him, he eventually he found it (a little to his relief) and flicked his wrist, throwing her the key.

"Cheers, I shouldn't be too long; feel free to help yourself to anything you need," she flashed him a small smile as she stuffed the key into her trouser pocket and wandered over to the door, Kakashi nodded gently in thanks and watched her disappear out of the door. Only for her to return a few minutes later, sticking her head around the door, a little sheepishly,

"Uh… where exactly do you live?" Kakashi couldn't resist a smile at their slight lack of communication as it didn't occur to him to _tell_ her where he lived.

After she left, Kakashi managed to shift himself onto his back, suddenly noticing a target stuck to the wall covered in Kunai marks, and one or two on the wall around it, although a little odd, he ignored it and allowed his eyes to close, his mind again returning to ponder exactly who his friend was. Whether, too, they could salvage a friendship, once he'd regained his mobility, and was no longer freeloading. He definitely saw flashes of the friend he once knew and an edge to the adult she was that he didn't, but he would like to understand that side. Before he dropped of to sleep yet again, it occurred to him, that Atsuko wouldn't be a bad choice to help him with his Sharingan training. He was still unused to her fighting style or techniques and that Jutsu she pulled… how she managed to duck out of his sight for such a short amount of time and perform the hand seals, he'd yet to figure out. Not to mention it was an insanely powerful technique.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Atsuko wandered down the streets of Konoha, thinking that she might as well go to Kakashi's first and it was marginally closer than the shop; she had to admit, she _was_ interested to see what his place looked like. Finding her way in, and feeling a little odd letting herself in Kakashi's apartment when she barely knew him, she glanced around, and there was the occasional cup or plate that hadn't been washed in a while. She found one of his books on the coffee table, looking over it she recognized the cover and had seen them in shops before. Taking a quick leaf through it, it became instantly clear what the book was about and why Kakashi seemed so hesitant about asking; although she had to admit that is really wasn't that bad – and it was written pretty well. A quick look in his bedroom revealed the other one on his bedside table, picking it up she left quietly, locking the door behind her.

She got some shopping pretty quickly too, she guessed Kakashi would probably stay another night at most, so she just brought her usual stuff, and a little extra for dinner tonight. Still feeling intrigued about the books she flipped open the page of _Icha Icha Paradise_ and continued reading, until a voice interrupted her,

"Wow, has Kakashi rubbed off on you already?" She looked up to see a smirking Kurenai and Asuma, Atsuko, knowing this wouldn't go well, merely rolled her eyes.

"Kakashi asked me to pick them up for him." She stated, not really answering the question, as it were,

"From his house?"

"Yea,"

"Why couldn't he pick them up himself?" Asuma butted in, becoming quite interested,

"He's staying at mine, we were sparring the other day and he ended up with a chakra-drain and the hospital said there wasn't a spare bed, so the nurses told me to take him home." Atsuko explained lazily wishing sh hadn't run into these two.

"You didn't take him to his because…?"

"The guy was unconscious and until a few minutes ago I had no idea where he lived." Kurenai and Asuma exchanged a look which Atsuko couldn't read.

"What?" she asked, a little irritated,

"Nothing, I just hope you don't pick up too many of his weird habits," Asuma explained with a smirk evident in his voice, Atsuko expelled a short breath, telling the other two that she was less than impressed with the conversation.

"Anyway, I suppose I should go and get this stuff packed away," as she lightly jostled the bag of shopping in her arms and walking past Asuma and Kurenai, "See you guys around,"  
>"We'll be having some more drinks soon, make sure you're free!" Kurenai called pack, laughing at the expression she could imagine Atsuko to be holding. The young Kuniochi meandered back to her own apartment, and hadn't read as much of the book as she would have liked to, but didn't have an option. Opening the door quietly, seeing that he was asleep again, she placed the two books on his chest; not entirely sure why – it just seemed like a good idea for some reason. Atsuko noted that he look a bit more peaceful than last night and took that as a pretty good sign for his recovery.<p>

Attempting to remain inconspicuous, she placed the bag of food on the side, and turned around but ended up slipping on a splash of water from her washing up. She crashed to the floor in a swirl or swearing, feeling like it was just a really annoying day.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

A sudden, sharp crash and more than a few profanities spoken with little attempt to hide them, his eye shot open, noticing the two books on his chest that he'd asked for, sitting up a little to see over the edge of the sofa,

"Good service 'round here," he quipped staring at his host who had just stood up from the floor, rubbing her hip with a grumpy expression, which lightened considerably when she noticed that Kakashi had said something,

"Huh?"

"Thank you for picking these up for me," he said with a smile,

"No problem," she quickly averted her eyes as she walked again over the armchair, sitting down she placed one foot on the small table and both hands behind her head, slouching a little.

"What the matter?" He asked, noticed her slightly indignant expression,

"I ran into Kurenai and Asuma on my way back," she paused to roll her eyes, "probably next ask me when we got together or something else annoying," Atsuko rested her head on her fingertips and rubbed her forehead as the thought of what troublesome conversation Kurenai would no doubt force her to have.

Kakashi stared at her for a few seconds, before he couldn't help bursting into laughter at what had just gone on,

"Ahahahahahah," he paused for a few seconds to be able to string a sentence together and catch his breath, "how did they find out?" he asked, leaning his head to get a better look at her,

"Well, I was walking back looking over one of those books, which I guess was enough to pique their interest…" She pulled out a kunai, no longer looking at Kakashi; she prepared to throw it at the target set high on the wall opposite her. Kakashi wasn't sure whether she either didn't notice or ignored his quip;

"Reading one of these books?" He queried,

"Yea, I remembered what they were when I saw the covers… not too bad actually; I've read worse." She commented lazily throwing the kunai with the precision one would expect from an ANBU. Kakashi was pretty pleased that he she didn't care too much – it just made life a little easier.

He felt very relaxed on a sofa – one he couldn't as yet move too easily away from as he observed Atsuko chuck kunai and shuriken at the target, barely moving beyond the arm necessary; as the other remained behind her head.

"Atsuko, I'm sorry to have intruded on you like this, but I should be able to move normally enough to get back to my apartment tomorrow; or at least I'd better be or I won't be able to meet my genin tomorrow after the second test." He mentioned wondering a little how they were doing, realizing that he'd nearly forgotten about them with the events of the past few days.

"Eh, I suppose it's partly my fault that you're in this state anyway so don't worry about it." She turned her head to look at him again, with a light, reassuring smile, "How do you think your genin will do?"

"They often seem a little shaky to most, but I have complete faith that they'll make it through at least to the final exam." He said, the smile evident in both his voice and his eyes and Atsuko nodded in understanding turning back to her Shuriken 'practice'.

"Oh, Kuso!" she spoke so suddenly, she nearly made him jump, "I forgot to wash the bed sheets, _crap_," she said standing and scurrying to sort out the washing. As she returning with an armful of bed sheets, looking a little swamped in them, she peeked over the top, not having the material under control,

"Would you like anything washed?" Kakashi looked at her as she appeared almost like a small kid again her eyes widened holding the question, it was a little cute, but shook his head as he opened his book.


	7. Will This Drink

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><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [07] : Will This Drink Be As 'Quick' As The Last One? :_

* * *

><p>Kakashi had just about recovered and returned back to his own place earlier that day and Atsuko herself was definitely feeling better and ready to begin training again. She spent nearly the entirety of the day practicing all her techniques, taijutsu and some genjutsu, in preparation for her first mission in a few hours, later that night. Eventually, returning home exhausted and sweating profusely with her head down a little thinking about the mission and what would be demanded of her… she was looking forward to it, definitely but she couldn't help but feel a slight laziness. Rubbing a hand over her tired eyes as she instinctively knew she was at her front door, she failed to notice that someone was already stood there, crashing straight into them and essentially head-butting their chest, she stepped back a little confused but ready to fight,<p>

"Hey, hey it's only me," Kakashi grinned raising his hands up to show he was no threat,

"Oh, sorry," she replied, a bit self-conscious of her state, but opened the door, "can I help you?"

"Well, I wondered if you wanted to borrow _Icha Icha Paradise_? Also, are you coming to the final Chuunin exam in a months time?" he queried, she looked over her shoulder at him, before slowly turning around,

"Uh…yea I would like to borrow it, and I'm not sure yet, I might be on a mission, attending as ANBU security or just as an observer… Can I let you know nearer the time?"

"Well, I'll be away for the month training one of my students, so I guess we'll just have to see on the day," he smiled, handing her over the book,

"I guess so, urgh…do you fancy some tea?" she asked, wanting to rest her feet to make sure that they'd be fine ready for her mission. Kakashi nodded, as they both removed their _zori_ and leaving them by the front door.

"Please; you don't do anything by halves do you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked glancing her eyes over him as he stood leaning on the side in one corner of her kitchen, as she prepared the cups and tea pot, only waiting for the water to boil.

"You went back to training today after a few days and you look knackered… were you there all day?" he asked, the amusement clearly playing on his voice,

"Yea…" Atsuko replied slowly, "I have a mission tonight, so I can't slack off too much," she responded setting all of the tea related stuff onto a small tray and turned to away for a moment, during which Kakashi had already picked up the tray,

"Oh… thanks." she said, caught a little off guard by his actions.

As they sat in momentary silence while Kakashi poured the tea and handed a small cup to Atsuko, their peace was disturbed by a knock at the door, sighing a little she got up and opened the door to reveal Kurenai, _great timing_ she though sarcastically.

"Yo, Atsuko, I thought I'd come and see you for a few minutes, not busy are you? Oh!" she spoke, as she walked through the door she then noticed Kakashi who looked up with a small smile, "Hi Kakashi, are you still recovering?" she asked politely, as Atsuko closed the door, nodded for Kurenai to take a seat and sat herself down, characteristically resting her heel on the table.

"No, I just came for tea." He responded,

"Hey! I'm not a tea house!" Atsuko suddenly responded, surprising herself slightly at the emotion she allowed into it,

"Too bad, you make good tea," Kakashi spoke with a grin evident in his closed, curved eye; Kurenai held a devious smile,

"Can I help you, Kurenai?" Atsuko asked, her voice returning to normal,

"Yea, I reckon we should go out for drinks again, it was pretty cool last time," she looked between Atsuko and Kakashi,

"I could do… I've got a mission later tonight so I'll be away for a few days… hopefully not _too_ long." She responded, feeling lazy.

"Kakashi?"

"Well, Sasuke's still in the hospital but he should be up and about in a few days in the latest, when would you like to go? I'll see based on Sasuke as we'll need to head out of Konoha to prepare him for the third exam." He responded in a somewhat bored tone,

"Ok… Shall we say in about three days time, and I can come and see if you guys are around, if so you'll come?" she asked, with a glint of hope in her eye; getting a nod of approval from the both of them.

"Excellent, well, I guess I shouldn't keep you if you've got a mission, coming Kakashi?" she asked, curious to ask him something,

"Uh, yea I guess so," he set down the little cup, "Thanks for the tea – and don't worry, next time _I'll _provide the tea," he smiled rising to his feet and turning towards the door,

"No problem, thanks for the book," Atsuko smiled back, also rising to her feet to show them out,

"No problem," he responded, feeling a little silly for using the exact same response as Atsuko.

~~/********/~~

Once outside it was just a little too dark to read his book, Kakashi was about to say goodbye to Kurenai when she beat him to the first words,

"Hey, you seem to have gotten pretty close to Atsuko,"

"We were friends as children, but I hadn't seen her for more than ten years for varying reasons," he trailed off not really making much of a point,  
>"Really?" Kurenai did not expect that answer,<p>

"Yea, her mother and my father were once team mates," he responded with his usual demeanor, not entirely sure why he was telling this to Kurenai,

"Ah, right," The Kuniochi responded a little cryptically, but Kakashi couldn't be bothered to push it any further, "I think you're a good influence on Atsuko… she seems to leave the house a little more," Kakashi looked over to her for a moment wondering what exactly she was implying by that… but he couldn't find one that seemed accurate enough so he remained silent.

"Well, I've got to head this way, hopefully see you in a few days, Kakashi," she said last, turning down an adjacent road waving a little, Kakashi responded with another small wave,

"Goodbye," he said as he darted off to return home as quickly as possible, beginning to feel a little fatigued his thoughts focused on Atsuko partly blaming Kurenai for her questions – although he wasn't _entirely_ sure how true that was.

* * *

><p>Some days later, Kakashi was preparing the items he needed to begin training Sasuke the next day, glad that he decided they'd meet in the early afternoon, much to Sasuke's chagrin. Just as he'd finished, a knock at the door, grabbed his attention, upon opening it, there stood Kurenai, smiling a little,<p>

"Good, you're here still, ready to join us? Don't worry, Atsuko's back and will be there too, they're at the bar,"

"Ok, I'll meet you there, I'll just grab my vest," he replied lazily, as Kurenai disappeared in puff of smoke, _a kage bunshin? _ He wondered, but guessed it'd save time a little. Turning around, he grabbed his vest and Hiatai-ate managed to get them securely on before he'd locked the door behind him. He reached the bar pretty quickly, considering how long it took last time, just as he stepped into the bar, it occurred to him that he wasn't acting _anything like his usual self_,  
>"Yo," he greeted, approaching the small table, with Kurenai, Asuma and Atsuko, with his two fellow Jounin sat with their backs to the bar, and his ANBU friend with her back to the wall; her face – or what he could see of it looked completely passive. He'd gotten used to her mask being off for the time he was at her place.<p>

"Kakashi! I was expecting another hour or so before you turned up," Asuma said with a grin,

"Well, I had finished what I was supposed to be doing by the time Kurenai showed up, and I won't be seeing you guys for some time, so…" he took a seat in the free space next to Atsuko, who was staring at the empty cup of Sake. In the time it took Kakashi to get settled in his seat, a man appeared at the table, with a familiar grin.

"Well, I haven't seen you guys in quite a while," Daisuke said, looking at Atsuko, "Can I get you guys a drink?" he asked in his usual smooth voice,

"Yea another bottle of sake, please," Asuma asked

"Same here," Kakashi responded noticing Daisuke flicked his eye to Kakashi as he said this, along with a funny sort of look he couldn't read.

"Atsuko?" Daisuke asked, "Would you like anything?" but before he could get an answer from the person he was asking, Kakashi interrupted,

"Hey, I agreed to get the next drink, remember?" He directed his attention to Atsuko, who stared back with a slightly blank look, before _eventually_ answering;

"Oh yea… uh… if you're happy too."

"Sure," then turning his attention back to Daisuke, "Two cups with that, please," Kakashi smiled at the bar tend but all he got was a curt nod (and no smile) in return. Kurenai eyed them both for a moment, but remained silent.

"Where are you taking Sasuke to train him?" Asuma asked, leaning on the table a little,

"Just outside of Konoha, I have a feeling we'll need a lot of space as I'll need to teach him a new Jutsu." Kakashi responded lazily, looking comfortably relaxed,

"I see, that's probably a wise decision…What about Naruto? I imagine you won't be training them both as I was impressed at how well all three of yours did at the pre-lims," he said, taking a small, innocent dig at the other male Jounin,

"Nah, he'll have Ebisu-san, which he wasn't happy about… I can't believe they've previously met." Kakashi shook his head a little at the memory and ignoring Asuma's last comment, as Daisuke returned carrying a tray of drinks,

"Here you are, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," As he handed their bottle over and turned to the other half of the company, he passed out the two small cups and the second bottle of Sake.

"Thank you," she said keeping her self under control until Daisuke had smiled warmly at her, then wandered off,

"About damn time!" she muttered to herself as she pulled down her mask, grabbed the bottle, ripped the cork out and poured a cup of sake which she downed in one, pouring another cup and downing _that_ in seconds, she then looked at Kakashi to see if he wanted a cup, only to find him staring weirdly at her, just as Asuma and Kurenai were.

"What?" she asked, feeling a little uneasy at so many pairs (and a half) of eyes on her;

"What the hell's up with you?" Asuma asked, sounding a little concerned but quite amused.

"I'm… err… _thirsty_," she responded, tipping some of the bottle's contents into Kakashi's cup and then more into her own, leaving the cork discarded on the table,

"Difficult mission?" Kurenai asked, as Asuma poured a little sake into both their cup and bothering to replace the cork.

"Sort of, seemed to be so much more effort than I remember…" looking at Kakashi she jabbed an unthreatening finger at him, "Your damn laziness is rubbing off on me!" to which Kakashi merely smiled happily in response,

"Hey, I told you to be careful," Asuma smiled in a cheeky fashion as Kurenai laughed, Atsuko opened her mouth to responded but settled for a playfully disgruntled smile and a roll of the eyes; to which Asuma joined Kurenai's laughter. Kakashi joined in after that too, having realized he was just staring at Atsuko.

~~/********/~~

It was getting very late, and the entire company was definitely heading for a bad hangover tomorrow, but it had been a better night – for a number of reasons – than Atsuko had expected. Firstly Daisuke had mostly left them alone and she was free to feel like she wasn't being watched by somebody weird, _mostly._ Kurenai had been looking at her occasionally like she had a question on the tip of her tongue but couldn't ask; and Kakashi hadn't disappeared into his book once. But then, Atsuko hadn't been this drunk for a while, so maybe her mind was playing tricks on her; as they all placed quite a few notes on the table, they all stood up. As Atsuko was second to last to the door, Kakashi following close behind, she was nearly stopped by Daisuke, but Kakashi slung an arm over her shoulder, and whispered quietly in her ear,

"I guessing you can't be bothered to deal with him right now?" It was a little presumptuous,

"Nah, I just want to go home and sleep," she remarked leaning her head on his shoulder a little – alcohol never failed to make Atsuko feel extremely tired, even if she had just gotten home from a mission. Daisuke watched them walk past, looking a little annoyed, but remained silent; as they got outside to face Asuma's and Kurenai's questioning faces,

"Don't look so weird, I'm saving her from Daisuke," Kakashi sounded a little proud of himself as he steered Atsuko who was rubbing her eyes, and not paying much attention to the surroundings in the direction of where she lived.

"Bye, guys." He called out, putting his hand up in a form of backwards wave as Asuma looked like he wanted to question what exactly was going on, but figured he'd find out soon enough.

"You didn't… have to walk me home, ya know." Atsuko said quietly as she tried, a little unsuccessfully to find her key and open the door,  
>"Well, it's not honorable to let you get drunk and not walk you back through the dark streets, would it?" he replied, apparently forgetting that she was technically a higher rank than he was. Too tired to really care, Atsuko pulled off her zori, a little awkwardly as Kakashi refused to let her out from under his arm.<p>

"Uh… can I stay here? Too tired to walk back." He muttered,

"Yea, that's fine." She said, wandering towards her bedroom, Kakashi following right next to her. He sat on the bed, pulling off his Chuunin vest, shirt, headband and gloves, swinging his feet up and making some space by his side for Atsuko, as said Kuniochi just watched him not sure what to do. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to him, as she leaned on the side of his chest, feeling one his arms coil around her waist as she allowed the arm she wasn't leaning on cross his chest. She fell asleep before she really registered what she was doing although grateful for the body warmth he was providing.

Kakashi shifted a little, turning onto his side, pulling whoever it was keeping him warm a little closer, coiling his free arm around their upper back and resting his chin on the top of their head. It struck him as odd, but he couldn't be bothered to find out what was going on; he'd probably have to get up soon anyway. He tensed his arms again slightly, liking the feeling but it wasn't until he heard a feminine 'mmmh' that his eyes snapped open, it suddenly occurring that this definitely _wasn't_ usual – or something he could ignore. He stared at her for a few moments, half in shock that he hadn't remembered _at all_ going to sleep next to Atsuko and half observing how peaceful and beautiful she looked without a 'put-on' expression that he usually saw. Knowing that they couldn't stay like this, he forced himself to try and wake her up, _at least we're still dressed- sort of_ he thought a little grimly,

"A-Atsuko?" he spoke, much more softly than he expected his voice sound, _maybe I'm just that hung-over_ he reasoned, "Atsuko, wake up." He said a little louder, shaking her very gently trying to wake her up.

"Yea?" she asked gently back, frowning a little without opening her eyes, presumably irritated at having to be woken up,

"It time to get up," he whispered back, worrying how she might react to the situation; Atsuko blinked her eyes open, staring intently, but also in a rather confused fashion,

"Kakashi?" she asked the confusion evident, "Why are you here?" she asked, in a strangely innocent and confused voice, he did his best to hide the smile on his face even though he still had his mask on as he noticed the smallest blush evident on her cheeks;

'Well, I guess I must have come back here and fallen asleep…uhh… I'm really sorry for…uhh… barging in – again," he removed an arm from around her and scratched the back of his head somewhat nervously allowing a smile to show through his eye, trying to lighten the mood and hoped that there wouldn't be any awkward tension. Though he knew that would be impossible – no matter _what_ the outcome.

"Uh… well, don't worry about it," She smiled back lightly looking extremely nervous.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

She leaned on to her back closing her eyes momentarily, trying to regain composure as her heart was definitely _not_ steady, his attractiveness wasn't lost on her, but there was definitely some difference from when he was a few feet away and when his face was barely a few inches away from hers. And that completely ignoring the fact he was currently shirtless, _I mean, damn_ she couldn't resist thinking. Eventually she sat up, and rubbed over her eyes and forehead, groaning a little at how bad she felt; before she's realized it, she looked over her shoulder as Kakashi was also on his back, his one open eye holding and expression she could read.

"Well, I…uhh…I'll get dressed and make some tea," Atsuko feeling conscious that she was saying something which was implying something _else_. She stood up, fetching a change of clothes and scurrying off to the bathroom, cursing herself for such stupid actions. Taking a minute before she did anything once the bathroom door was closed, she tried to regain composure by taking a few deep breaths; she got dressed in usual shinobi attire, but without a Chuunin vest and brushed her teeth. Feeling a little better, she wandered into the living room seeing that the water in the kitchen was boiling and a tea pot and cups set out. Kakashi was stood leaning against the side having donned his shirt, vest, hitai-ate and gloves, with his head bowed a little, arms folded and his eye closed, looking very relaxed – or tired.

Atsuko walked over to where the water was boiling, she poured it into the tea pot, and allowed it to settle for a moment before picking up the tray it was sat on and walked over to the settee, feeling bad for not saying a word.

"What time do you have to meet Sasuke?" she asked politely, pouring out two cups of tea, and handing him one, which he took from her, as they accidentally brushed fingers,

"In the early afternoon," he responded easily, not looking at her directly as he sat back, Atsuko poured her own cup and stared at it intently, as though it was responsible for her feeling uncomfortable.  
>"Well… I should really be heading off, as it'll take me a while to get to where I need to meet Sasuke and I'll need to stop off at mine first," she looked up at him, surprised at having finished his tea so quickly while it was still so hot,<p>

"Ah, sure, I hope the training goes well, and that you're genin will do you proud," she said politely, still feeling uneasy, but not showing it,

"Ahahah… yea, they have done me proud, but I hope they do _themselves _justice," he said, again scratching the back of his head in slight nervousness as he rose to his feet and walked over to where his zori were, pulling them onto his feet. Atsuko followed him over to the door and showed him out as they exchanged one last glance neither could fully read.


	8. The Test

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [08] : The Test :_

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><p>Nearly a week and a half after the incident with Kakashi, Atsuko was walking back from a mission through Konoha, feeling hungry and deciding that she couldn't yet be bothered to go back home so quickly – so she stopped off at Ichiraku's ramen and ordered a miso. Much to her surprise as she sat waiting patiently in the corner, a familiar figure approached,<p>

"Atsuko… I never thought I'd see you here; how are you?" Daisuke asked, with an _almost _un-suspicious smile, she was feeling bad at how she'd ignored him a little while back, even though he did annoy her sometimes he wasn't a bad guy,

"No too bad thank you, Daisuke; how've you been?" she asked back politely,

"Ok, actually, works nice and steady and I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of this year's Chuunin exams!" He exclaimed brightly as he took a seat next to her, ordering a pork ramen,

"Uh… Daisuke… I-I'm sorry if I was rude to you, when I was last in the bar a week or so back… I really didn't mean to be, I suppose I was just a little stressed from a mission and… ended up a little drunk, hahah," she said, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"No problem, I can understand that you must be under a lot of stress as a Kuniochi – especially one as skilled as yourself; and I guess you were with your boyfriend." He smiled back, as her ramen arrived and she swirled the noodles in preparation to take a bite.

"My what?" she nearly choked over he own words, "I don't have a boyfriend… I was only there with my friends."

"Really?" he sounded a little too interested, "Ah – I thought Kakashi was your boyfriend because you seem so close," he tried in vain to recovered from sounding too happy, as his own ramen arrived.

"Nah, he's just an… old friend who I hadn't seen for a long time and then Kurenai got involved and kept inviting him out with her, Asuma and myself… Whenever it was that I actually went out." She said the first part with a smile, for some reason desperate to press the point that she and Kakashi were _nothing_ more than friends. Maybe trying to convince herself more; relationships were dangerous things, even if you _weren't _a shinobi; _for whatever reason he'd see me as anything but an old friend_ she thought a little sadly.

"Cool… how come I see you so rarely in the bar? Asuma-san and Kurenai-san, Anko-san and a few others I see pretty regularly… you can't be on missions for _all_ that time," he asked with a smooth smile on his face,

"You'd be surprised!" she responded, not wanting to tell him that _he_ was the reason she wouldn't go in there alone, or without a group of people she knew well; Daisuke gave her a disbelieving look,

"Well, ok, not _all_ the time, but I like my privacy and it's nice sometimes to just chill out in my apartment and have some time to myself when I've had a mission away from Konoha for a few days." She said, hoping that would satisfy his curiosity.

"That's fair enough I suppose" he replied and they ate their ramen in silence for a little while before Daisuke spoke again, "Will you be at the Chuunin exams?"

"Yes, but I'll be there as ANBU security,"

"Ah, I see… Well, I hope nothing goes too wrong,"

"Yea, I hope so too," she was feeling a little uneasy; there was a great deal of rumor and already a number of incidents with this years exams. She'd have to keep her eyes open. As she finished her ramen, she reached into her pocket for her money, but Daisuke grabbed her wrist,

"I'm paying, but on one condition." He said flatly, "that you come into my bar at _least_ twice a month. I like seeing you there and I'd like to talk to you more often – I miss you when you're not around," he said, a little too smoothly, she rolled her eyes internally to herself, _like hell he misses me, I bet he's just looking to get laid,_ she thought cynically to herself,

"You know I can't promise that… but I'll see what I can do." She said, now just wanting to get away from him, "Excuse me, but I think I'm now due to meet the Hokage and Kiji-Taichou." He released her wrist, as she stood and thanked the owner and slapped the money on the side,

"Bye, Daisuke," her voice wafted back to him as she walked away, he sat there staring at her for a moment wondering what he'd have to do before she'd look at him and not see a bar tender.

~~/********/~~

It had been almost a month since she last set eyes on Kakashi, considering how awkward their last encounter was, she was partially glad but she couldn't deny that she _did_ miss him a little. Knowing that she'd see him in a few days, as she'd been ordered to attend the Chuunin exams as ANBU security, it was a bit of a relief as he wouldn't recognize her. She appeared in the stadium at her designated post in a simple beige cloak and her mask even before there were many spectators, although they filled in quickly she couldn't help subconsciously looking for Kakashi.

She didn't know any of the genin personally, or any of their abilities particularly, although for security reasons she had been informed specifically of Sabuuku no Garra and the sand siblings and of Naruto because of their existences as Jinchuuriki [tailed monster containers]. However she _was_ impressed with a genin named Shikamaru particularly with his strategizing ability – definitely a chuunin quality; although the other genin weren't so 'intellectually' strong, there were some surprising out comes to the fights. She did _not_ expect Naruto to win, although she was pleased that Kakashi's student has so well smashed the expectations set on him.

Kakashi and Sasuke were extremely late, and were lucky that most of the Hokages had gathered specifically to watch Sasuke and Garra fight so he was not disqualified. She kept a very close eye out flicking her eyes around all of the spectators, genin and the Kages; her intuition still told her not to relax. Eventually, the field was clear of the last fight, and leaves began to fall, swirling into something like a tornado, when eventually it cleared, Kakashi and his young genin were stood back to back looking, for want of a better word, _badass_.

It struck Atsuko that this form of grand entrance wasn't particularly unlike Kakashi; she couldn't resist a slight roll of the eyes at how flashy it was to turn up so late and in such a grandiose fashion. Kakashi made his way up the stands, with the other Jounin and genin who'd already fought or were disqualified earlier, she was easily in view of him and he held a lightly embarrassed expression, scratching the back of his head when he looked at Asuma and Kurenai. See him so close up (albeit a good ten to fifteen feet away) she noticed that she had _definitely missed him_.

Sasuke and Gaara's fight was… interesting to say the least, so much so, Atsuko had to force herself to look away every now and then to check the situation; eventually the fight became the least of the worries with regard to the stadium and the people in it. She sensed a Genjitsu being cast, which she quickly dispelled but stayed low for a moment, searching for where the enemies were; it became quickly obvious from which she clashed kunai with one in particular, she had to be fast in dispatching him as she couldn't risk harm to the spectators currently unconscious.

She threw a shuriken as a distraction at him, as she performed a few lightening seals faster than one could see, as her opponent got rid of the shuriken, she sent a kage bunshin behind the enemy; she managed to 'double team' the enemy with her self, and drove two shuriken into their chest, killing them in an instant. She looked over to the Hokage, but saw that a large barrier had been formed, with the Hokage and Orochimaru trapped inside, and everyone else left unable to help on the outside.

She felt an urge to dash over to the barrier, but knew it would be worthless, she couldn't provide any aid to the Hokage, so the best she could do was protect the spectators under the Genjitsu and the other Shinobi attempting to defend them. She seemingly flew around the area she was designated clashing kunai and shuriken with some other ANBU who obviously were not on Konoha's side. She appeared next to Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai and Asuma after three genin had left the scene, letting them know she _was_ a real ANBU,

"How many enemies have you estimated?" She queried, secretly creating a few more Kage Bunshins with lightening speed hand seals, and having them appear dotted around the smallish area,

"10 in the immediate vicinity, maybe a further ten around the entire stadium," Kakashi responded, as they stood back to back defending, "I'm guessing the majority are here as we're the most threat gathered in this little area," he continued, Atsuko grunted showing she'd understood what he'd said.

"ANBU, in the corner-" Asuma began, unable to leave his current spot, but seeing an enemy closing on some of genin,

"Don't worry, Asuma – san," she quickly added the 'san' on, it seeming a little odd to say it but she couldn't let them know who she was, "My kage bunshin will cover it," right on cue her shadow clone fought with the enemy, as she finished up with the enemy in front of her, she flew over to her clone as it was destroyed, she aimed a sharp kick which he blocked easily, flipping herself around, she managed to get a punch to their gut, but he jumped away, fetching a kunai she lunged again.

The enemy was skilled and she received a deep gash in on her stomach with the _sebon _needles he had between his clenched fist, ignoring it, Atsuko saw Gai appear behind the enemy ANBU directing a kick so fast, the enemy had no choice but to turn and block, where Atsuko saw an opening. She threw one kunai and followed up quickly with another, right through his heart.

The fight was defiantly tiring, and had been long, Atsuko was covered in many cuts and gashes she could feel the depth of the cut from the sebon needles beginning to weaken her; there were still quite a few enemies left, who hadn't been killed or fled the scene when the Jounin and allied ANBU couldn't leave to pursue them. Atsuko was again fighting back to back with Kakashi, the enemy facing her began the hand seals for the grand fire ball technique, she dashed forward in a attempt to stop him, but he was too fast, and she was caught in the blast; managing to escape before it did too much damage, but in the process she couldn't dodge a windmill shuriken aimed at her from another enemy. It dug into her torso, crushing two of her bottom ribs, she managed to land without causing further injury, knowing that she was now _definitely _at her limit, she felt she had no choice but to use _that_ Jutsu.

She began to furiously perform hand seals as the enemy was engaged with Asuma, as sharp circular saw like blades of pure chakra began to form on either side of her body, tilted to a point in front of her, she passed for a second, steadying herself for the massive chakra drain,

"Asuma! Get out of the way!" she shouted charging forwards, he turned, looking shocked as Atsuko only just missed taking him out along with the enemy. She smashed into him, literally cutting him in half with the sheer force of her Jutsu as blood covered her and the area; turning, having a shred of energy left, she flew towards another enemy whom Kurenai was fighting,

"Kurenai, move!" she again, narrowly missed killing her friend just as she had with Asuma, taking the enemy out with the same insanely destructive force. She stood, wavering slightly, trying keep upright which was extremely difficult, the shuriken was still embedded in her side – she would have stopped breathing were it not for an involuntary action; the pain was stabbing and almost unbearable,

"W-What's with that ridiculous Jutsu after all this time?" she heard Asuma speak, Atsuko having taken out the last of the enemies from their area, as the other's had fled as none of the Jounin having noticed at the time that the shield around the Hokage was gone,

"A-Atsuko?" she heard turning her head slightly, she saw Kakashi taking a step towards her, her energy, stamina and chakra having almost completely gone, she fell to her knees, her breathing erratic. Kakashi stood there unknowingly trampling on her security which made her loneliness bearable, the thought that she _didn't care all that much if she died_; the last thing she heard was Kurenai's voice,

"_That's_ Atsuko?"


	9. Just Alive

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [09] : Just Alive For Sandaime's Death :_

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><p>"A-Are you sure, Kakashi?" Asuma asked, disbelievingly as Kakashi approached the fallen ANBU, pushed her onto her side, and removing her mask, <em>definitely<em>.

"Shit! Atsuko!" Kurenai, nearly shouted at her unconscious and dying friend,

"Kurenai-san, Asuma-san, Kakashi-san and Gai-san, quickly, the barrier is down around the Hokage, and… he is dead," another ANBU arrived suddenly informing the group of the worst news.

"You guys go, I've got to get Atsuko to the hospital, I'll meet you there," Kakashi spoke quickly scooping Atsuko up to his arms and disappearing in a puff of smoke. The slightly dazed, shocked and exhausted Jounin ran as fast as they could to the roof, where they and the other shinobi gathered around the body of the fallen Sandaime. As they stood for what seemed a ridiculous amount of time, the Jounin and ANBU struggled to accept that their beloved Hokage had fallen – for reasons due, they could only find – of their lack of vigilance. Eventually, they turned to leave the scene out of necessity, still shocked and deeply concerned for what would happen next – nobody knowing or wanting to make the hard decisions.

Kakashi appeared in the hospital struggling to keep a level head, the Hokage was _gone_, many shinobi had been slaughtered, the village had been considerably weakened, Atsuko was on the verge of death herself and he was feeling more than exhausted from his own fights earlier.

"Hatake-san!" a nurse cried out when she set eyes on the blood soaked Jounin holding a barely ANBU in his arms, she directed him to a bed, and asked him to take a step back as Atsuko was wheeled out of his sight and into an operating theatre in about twenty seconds flat. Kakashi took a seat on a small chair in the corridor, unable to muster enough energy to get up; he just sat there for a while feeling horribly uncertain about the future of Konoha with no Hokage, a ravaged village and considerably fewer shinobi.

"Hatake-san, please let me sort out your wounds, some are quite serious," A medic-nin approached him with concern, _were they?_ He asked himself, having been too distracted by the fighting to really notice, but he complied, and allowed the medic-nin to tend to his wounds there and then.

"You need to return home and rest, you will be fine after some rest, unfortunately, the hospital cannot spare any more beds than for those in a dire state." The shinobi said to him, he managed to stand, but thought to ask,

"What of the ANBU I just brought in, what is her condition?"

"We are doing all we can, but for now her future is uncertain," Kakashi nodded curtly, and turned to leave to try and find Asuma and Kurenai, now wanted to know what exactly had happened with the Hokage. He wandered slowly back towards the stadium, hoping he wouldn't have to look too hard for them, as luck would have it, he didn't as he bumped into them not far from the stadium both of them walked solemnly, looking rather worse for wear,

"Asuma, Kurenai…" he started, not exactly sure what to say,

"H-how's Atsuko?" Asuma asked, not really wanting Kakashi to ask about his late father, the Sandaime,

"Dunno, the medic-nins aren't sure what they can do for her yet," he replied a little gloomily, "Is… the third… when's the funeral?" he changed track half way through, unsure how to broach the subject,

"We don't know yet, probably before the end of the week," Asuma replied, busying himself with locating a cigarette, bringing it to his lips and lighting it, he took a harsh drag which didn't seem to calm him down much. Kakashi nodded in response, as the three continued to walk none feeling talkative they each eventually veered off in the direction of their respective homes,

"I'll see you guys soon and… I'm sorry, Asuma," Kakashi stated, not looking at his friend,

"It's… fine. I'll see you soon, Kakashi," he responded. As Kakashi eventually got back to his apartment, the only thing he could do was slam the door behind him before he fell onto the sofa and slipped into an uneasy sleep; without bothering to take off his headband, vest or even his zori.

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><p>He eventually woke up feeling disgustingly grim… it was never good waking up still fully dressed, covered in grime and even with his sandals still on…it wasn't until he managed to get into a seated position that he took a look over himself and noticed his vest was still covered in blood realizing that he hadn't a wound there, he remembered, <em>Atsuko!<em> He stood quickly and looked at the clock – it was late afternoon, feeling a small shoot of pain from the sudden movement, he ignored it, rushing over to the door and pausing momentarily.

_Is she alive? Could the medics do anything for her? _He wondered… decided that he wasn't quite ready to find the answers to those questions and surprising himself a little at it, he closed the door again and thought that a shower and a change of clothes first would be the best option.

A little while later, he found himself outside the hospital, Kakashi walked in slowly and up to the main desk,

"Excuse me," he began politely, his usual bored demeanor _firmly_ in place, "Could you tell me where Yamagata, Atsuko is?" the nurse nodded and turned to leaf through a file quickly,

"Ah, yes, she's in room 257 – although she's still unconscious and in a bad shape, please keep all noise and disturbances to an absolute minimum," He nodded in understanding and walked away slowly having thanked the nurse, eventually reaching her room, he tugged the door open slowly; stepping inside and closing the door slowly, he walked over to her _she _was_ in a bad state_, her breathing was steady again, her face was clear but she held a slightly dark expression as though in some pain. Both her arms were covered in bandages and from what he could see her torso was as well, pulling a small stool over he sat and simply stared at her for a few moments, small tugs of relief twinge at the fact that she was alive and her breathing was regular. Signifying that the shuriken she was hit with hadn't been one which claimed her life, or left her permanently disabled.

He didn't know how long he sat there for until a familiar rattling of the door, signaled someone's entrance, he expected it to be the nurse and so didn't turn, but upon hearing a disappointed,  
>"Oh!" he realized who it was, Daisuke, "You're here too, <em>Kakashi<em>?" he asked, clearly sounded unimpressed,

"So it seems," he responded nonchalantly, the non-shinobi walked over to Atsuko's bed side, effectively forcing Kakashi to move as he stood next to her bedside table placing the vase of flowers he had in hand next to her,

"In case I'm not here, so Atsuko will have _something_ nice to look at," Daisuke responded to Kakashi slightly questioning look, as the bar tender still the stool Kakashi was forced to move from. The Jounin ignored Daisuke's insult and continued to look over Atsuko, seeing Daisuke was staring intently at her too, he lifted his headband looking over her body with his Sharingan to see the injuries.

He saw that the bottom two ribs which had been hit with the shuriken had been completely replaced by two metal bands connected by which he supposed must be an elastic material, enabling her to still use them. He could see where she had been gashed on the stomach by needles, although the healing was done expertly, she would definitely carry scars from them and the wounds would easily reopen if she wasn't careful.

The sides of her body where her insane chakra manifested itself had meant her skin was covered in hundreds of small needle like cuts, some of which were under the surface too, as though her Justus was almost as dangerous to her as it was to any opponent. He no only felt a stab of pain at just how injured she really was, but he also found a new respect for Atsuko and her Jutsu. It was far more than it initially seemed during their spar, having seen its full destructive power.

"Enjoying yourself?" Daisuke asked, staring hatefully at Kakashi and his mismatched eye, Kakashi pulled his headband back over his left eye,

"I was looking at her injuries, this is a Sharingan, it…" Kakashi paused giving short breath of distain, "you couldn't understand no matter how simply I put it,"

"Yea, sure… I bet you're just checking her out… trying to be the good guy, to get into her pants a little faster?" Daisuke asked, rising to his feet and looking at Kakashi with disgust. The Jounin felt the anger rise in him_ he was _not_ a sleazy a bartend_, if anything, that was how _he_ acted, with that silly wannabe seductive smile, and on his first time out to that place with her, hearing Daisuke try and get Atsuko to take him back with her, _whatever he wanted to do that for_ he thought to himself sarcastically. Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, thinking how to carefully choose his words, and keep his voice to minimum, but he was cut off by the door opening, to reveal Kurenai and Asuma.

"Kakashi… Daisuke," Kurenai spoke first, the two Jounin could easily sense the tension in the room, and she flashed Kakashi a quick questioning look where Daisuke couldn't see, Kakashi forced his face back to its usual expression and walked over to the window leaning on the sill.  
>"It is good to see that you are both alright, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," he spoke with a sickeningly fake voice, or so it seemed to Kakashi; Asuma frowned slightly at Daisuke's sentence, <em>he seemed ok<em>, but let it be,

"Well, I-err should be leaving really," Daisuke spoke again, feeling uncomfortable, and shooting a look of dislike towards the silver haired man in the corner, he left quickly, with a short goodbye.

"What was wrong with him?" Kurenai asked, lightly, her eyes focused on her friend lying in the bed and not on Kakashi, from whom she could still feel an aura of irritation, if not anger,

"He apparently doesn't trust me around Atsuko," Kakashi replied shortly, which even managed to elicit a small smile from Asuma, "Surely _he's_ the one not to be trusted?" the bearded shinobi asked, trying to seem more light hearted than he was.

"Mmmh," Kakashi responded, with more approval in his tone than he intended; Kurenai broke the momentary silence,

"I can't believe what a Jutsu Atsuko pulled after all that fighting,"

"Yea… it was just like when I was sparring with her a few weeks back, it was really luck that I saw that Jutsu or I probably wouldn't have realized it was her so quickly and gotten her to the hospital in time," Kakashi responded, fully realizing exactly what _could_ have happened.

"Well, it was a damn good job you did, Kakashi. I wouldn't have liked to have lost her as well," Asuma spoke again, a little somber, "anyway, her breathing is regular and with any luck she be awake in a few days… as soon as she's up and around, we're going for a damn good drink!" Asuma sounded a little like Atsuko at their last night out, Kurenai laughed a little and nodded in approval, as did Kakashi.

"We'll drop in later in the week, to see Atsuko again, but let us know if there any major change," Kurenai said a little sadly, placing a gently hand on her friends arm, before turning to the door, "Oh, and try not to let Daisuke get under your skin too much," she said as she disappeared out of the door, Asuma lingered a little longer, fetching a cigarette, before turning to the door as well, "If you don't make a move, she'll think you're not interested,"

"W-what!" Kakashi said with a lot of surprise in his voice, standing up a little from the windowsill, but Asuma was gone, _what the hell? Why do they- …oh whatever_ he thought to himself gloomily, knowing what they said was true. He too left the hospital, unsure of whether his mood had improved or worsened compared to this morning, he got back to his place feeling hungry, but wasn't in the mood to eat as his mind was on other things.


	10. Glad To See You

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [10] : Glad To See You :_

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><p>It had been four days since the last exam, Sandaime's death, and Atsuko's admission to hospital, Kakashi visited everyday, and Atsuko was steadily getting better, she'd woken up yesterday and was very pleased to see Kakashi; she was only conscious for a few hours, and couldn't talk much. But she seemed happy for his company; never was he more glad that Daisuke wasn't there… he also carefully noted that she hadn't mentioned him. He was heading back over to the hospital in the late afternoon, having spent the morning helping to repair the village, basically filling in for a few minor D and C rank missions. Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru still weren't back from the mission he'd sent them on, and he was beginning to feel slight concern that it was a little too much for them, but knew that it was still a little early to worry. He stopped off at Kurenai's apartment as it was the closest on his way to the hospital, to inform her that Atsuko was awake, knocking on the door, he waited as patiently as he could for a response.<p>

"Hi," she said brightly, as she set eyes on the silver haired Jounin, who looked a little brighter than when she last saw him, "What brings you here?"

"Atsuko, she woke up yesterday, and I'm just on my way to the hospital and thought you'd like to see her, she was wondering how you and Asuma were."

"Great! Wait a sec," her facial expression changed greatly as she disappeared for a moment, returning and closing the door behind her, "can we swing by Asuma's first? It might make him feel a little better," her voice was a little down again,

"Sure, the more the better…" he gave a short cough catching himself, "Well, mostly." Kurenai laughed lightly,

"Still on edge with Daisuke?"

"Please don't start, Kurenai, there's enough on my mind without him getting in the way,"

They met up with Asuma, and were nearly at Atsuko's room, rattling the door open it was obvious Atsuko was up and talking to someone – who Kakashi didn't much like.

"Oh, I'd better go… you'd better not forget, Atsuko! I expect to see you soon," he smiled leaning forward planting a kiss on Atsuko's forehead; she smiled lightly, but definitely looked uncomfortable. Daisuke stood,

"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," he noted, as he walked past them who were first in the room, as he past Kakashi shooting a smug look at the Jounin as he walked out of the door, closing it behind him.

"What was that about?" Kurenai asked, "And I'm so glad to finally see you awake!"

"Yea," Atsuko replied feeling groggy but much happier to see her friends, "Ah, Daisuke just trying to make me promise to come and see him when I'm out of the hospital… ugh…" she groaned trying to sit up a little more, as Asuma helped her up by the arm and Kurenai moved a pillow making her much more comfortable,

"Thanks," she smiled at them, her mind suddenly clicking when setting eyes on them, "W-what happened to the Hokage!" she asked, as an awkward tension fell over the room,

"Uhh… he was killed by Orochimaru," Asuma eventually replied a little shortly, looking uncomfortable,

"A-Asuma… I'm-" he cut her off, with a shake of his head and a raised hand,

"Don't worry, he didn't let Orochimaru escape without a few wounds of his own and the village won't see him again for a few years at least," Asuma said with great comfort to her, their conversation was interrupted by a nurse.

"Atsuko-san? Oh, excuse me, but I need to ask Atsuko-san a few questions," the nurse walked over to her bedside, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired… well, exhausted,"

"And your ribs? Is it painful to breathe?"

"There's a dull ache, but it doesn't hurt," she replied as the nurse nodded making a few notes,

"Well, it seems you're making very good progress; I'm pleased to say that you should be able to leave the hospital in a few days. You need just a little more bed rest and you should be on your feet again in no time." The nurse smiled and at the same time eliciting one from Atsuko and the other Jounin in the room,

"If one of you could come back tomorrow to help her home and you seem to be the most friendly, or if you're busy I could ask the other young man here, what was his name?"

"It's ok, I'll be here to help," Kakashi interrupted, flashing his eye away from Atsuko the second she looked at him, the nurse nodded in approval,

"Just to confirm, you are Hatake, Kakashi-san, yes?" Kakashi nodded at his name, "excellent, well, if you could be here for eleven o'clock, that would be most helpful, Kakashi-san and we can try and get Atsuko-san on her way as quickly as possible." The nurse left and both Asuma and Kurenai had to hide their smirks,

"Ah, if you're busy Kakashi, I'm sure I can manage on my own," she said, looking at him with her electric green eyes, but Kakashi shook his head,

"Nah, I'm more than happy to help, besides, it's a good excuse from getting away from helping to clear up the town," he said

"What do you mean?"

"Oh… right, well in the attack it was just the stadium which was hit, the village was a little roughed over too, but we're getting there and it shouldn't be too long until the major work is complete." Atsuko looked worried at his words, but remained silent as she looked to Asuma and Kurenai for assurance that the situation wasn't so bad,

"Don't worry Atsuko, everyone's been helping out and the village wasn't too badly hit; hey, how about I come see you tomorrow around dinner time, and we can catch up? Don't worry, I can bring dinner with me," Kurenai laughed a little at the thought of Atsuko trying to cook – even in her current state,

"Yea, that sounds really good… I could kill for a shitake mushroom and onigiri… maybe some udon?" Atsuko hinted as Kurenai rolled her eyes at her friend's strange tastes.

"Sure, no problem – but I will also bring something _palatable_!" she exclaimed making both Asuma and Atsuko laugh a little, "anyway, I think we should leave you to rest, hopefully this one," she jerked her thumb slightly towards Kakashi who looked like wasn't listening and staring absentmindedly into space, "can get here on time and I'll come and see you at about six-ish?"

"Yea, I can't wait," Atsuko replied, looking noticeably more fatigued, the three other Jounin filed out of the room, Kakashi last,

"I'm really glad to see you looking better, and don't worry I won't be late… I'm sure you'll feel better once you're back in your own place," he said quietly, noticing Atsuko's slight, if not a little fake, smile as he turned and left the room.

~~/********/~~

Atsuko was awoken the next morning by the nurse bringing her a fresh set of typical shinobi clothes,

"You'd better get dressed, Hatake-san will be here soon,"

"Not likely, he's late to everything," Atsuko retorted, feeling as though she couldn't quite be bothered to get up right now, especially not with a nurse watching.

"That man cares a lot for you, he's been here everyday – if he cares as much as it seems, then he'll be on time," the nurse finished, "now please get dressed, I need to change the bed," she left the room almost as quickly as she'd come in, Atsuko sighed as she hauled her self to a seated position and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pealing off her nightgown and feeling a little exposed in the process, she threw on the top half of her clothes as quickly as possible, before struggling with her trousers. Eventually having managed to dress herself reasonably well, she sat on the edge of the bed resting, surprised at how much energy her activity had consumed.

A knock at the door a little later a voice called out, telling her it was the nurse,

"Yamagata-san, are you dressed?"

"Yes," she called back as the door slid open and much to her surprise the nurse walked in, followed by Kakashi, Atsuko stood up, feeling a little re-energized as the nurse shot her a look of 'I told you so' as she looked at the clock,

"Well, it is almost eleven exactly and I can clear you to go home, Hatake-san I feel that it would be best if you stayed with her until tomorrow, just to make sure that she not only takes her medicine, gets the appropriate rest, but also that there are no problems," the nurse said looked at the man, who nodded in return, Atsuko opened her mouth to protest, but guessed it would be useless, she'd just have to put up with how uncomfortable she felt around him.

Kakashi walked over to her, shooting an arm around her waist careful not to put too much pressure on her ribs and pulled her opposite arm over his shoulder. Atsuko and he walked a little oddly down the stairs and out of the hospital, having to stop every five to ten minutes for a short rest; Atsuko seemed rather distant from him, having hardly spoken a word, but he wondered if that was simply her condition rather any dislike she felt. They were stopped at the front desk for Atsuko to take home her medicine which Kakashi took hold of, but once they were on the street, the going was much slower. As there weren't any hand rails, Kakashi had to provide all her support and as he was taller than her, the awkward angle at which she was being held, seem to make her breathing all the more awkward.

"I'm…sorry, Kakashi… for it to take… this long…" she breathed, as they stopped again Kakashi looked at his friend a previous thought occurring to him that now indeed it might be the best option. Casting aside how uneasy it made him feel, he moved a hand to her back as she stood at a right angle just in front of him,

"Can you hold this?" he asked gently, as she took the bag, he swept a an arm under her knees lifting her completely off the ground,

"W-hey, whoa!" she cried, wondering what the _hell_ he was doing,

"Sorry, but this will be quicker and won't leave you feeling so knackered for meeting Kurenai later; and even for an uninjured person, its still a fifteen minute odd walk," he looked at her, but she kept her eyes stubbornly on the bag willing the slight blush on her cheeks to fade at being held in not only by him, but also in such an undignified position – for a Kuniochi at least. She sighed a little in discontent,

"I guess you're right," with her last remark, he sprinted off, seemingly to disappear as the bystanders saw it, he clutched her a little tighter to make sure she wouldn't fall as Atsuko couldn't resist leaning her head on his chest _oh well… maybe I can get away with out it seeming a too weird as I've just got out of hospital_ she thought to herself, a little embarrassed as her cheeks gained a pink tint to them.

Eventually they made it back to her apartment, as Kakashi stopped and lowered her to her feet, she stumbled a little trying to steady herself, as Kakashi didn't move his hand from just above her stomach. She scratched for her key, which she'd picked up along with her other valuables she had on her at the exams from the front desk and allowed herself and Kakashi into the apartment. Kakashi stayed close, ensuring that she at least remained upright as she walked over to her favourite chair and literally fell into it with more force than she'd intended. Feeling a slight damp to her clothes she lifted them up to reveal her now blood soaked bandaged stomach.

"Great… that's really helpful," she said sarcastically, as Kakashi sighed and rummaged in the medicine bag he'd just taken off her,

"Here, I'll re-wrap it for you," he took a few steps closer, and crouched next to her,

"No! – I mean, It's fine, I can manage by myself," she quickly covered, grabbing the bandage and lifting up the dark cloth covering her stomach just enough and trapping it up with her chin. Kakashi didn't move, but just remained there, crouched on his toes looking at her with interest and some slight amusement.

She pealed off the bandages a little painfully as some of the blood which seemed through had stuck to her skin and the wounds, reopening them, as more blood cascaded down to the hem of her trousers. Kakashi stood and fetched a small basin of water and a cloth, taking off his gloves he placed one hand on her side and the other gently swept away the blood; her stomach felt oddly warm.

"Keep some pressure on this," he said, pressing the cloth on to the wound, her hand took over from his and he turned to fetch another gauze pad and folded it slightly, lifting the cloth brought fresh blood to the surface,

"Keep the pressure for a few more minutes," he responded, with seemingly no emotion to his voice; Atsuko said nothing as she just sat there, feeling extremely uncomfortable with a bare stomach, the foul smell of copper in the air and the guy she was _slightly_ attracted to barely a few inches from her. Eventually the bleeding stopped enough so that Kakashi placed the gauze patch over the cluster of three wounds and quickly encircled her waist in a bandage, he shifted a little getting directly in front of her so that he could get the correct tightness to the bandage as Atsuko's mind betrayed her with remembering what the nurse had said, _he cares for you a lot_. She couldn't prevent herself from blushing a little, and all she could hope was that Kakashi didn't see it until it had faded.

Kakashi stood up without looking at her, and walked over to the kitchen carrying the bloodied cloth and the empty wrappers into the bin, he daren't allow his thought to linger over what a beautiful waist and stomach she had. From the clothes she wore her figure was obvious enough, _but there a hell of a difference to seeing it without any clothes in the way_. Shaking his head a little he forced himself to forget about it,

"Would you like some tea, Atsuko?" he called out,

"Uh… please, although I really should be the one making it for you…" she trailed off, having already replaced her shirt over the exposed skin.

"Don't worry, at least I know where everything is," he called back amusement strong in his voice,

"Yea, I guess so," she laid her head on the back of the chair and tried, a little unsuccessfully to prevent Kakashi's presence from bothering her as she rested a heel on the edge of the small table in front of her.

He sat down and handed her a mug of tea, "You know, the others were really impressed at that Jutsu you pulled and at the last minute," he spoke, settling himself on the sofa adjacent to hers crossing his legs and slinging an arm over the back, Atsuko shrugged her shoulders,

"Just one I developed a few years back, it's _damn_ helpful sometimes," she quipped, forgetting she was supposed to be trying to keep her distance, Kakashi smiled back at her,

"Why do you seem to always use it as a 'last resort'?"

"Well, it's pretty dangerous to me as well as my opponent, since I can't hold it for too long and is a big chakra drain, it always seems wise to use it as a 'finishing blow' if you know what I mean," Kakashi nodded in understanding, but suddenly remembered a question he meant to ask her more than a month ago,

"Hey, I've just remembered I question I meant to ask you after our spar, would you, err, be interested in helping me train? I'll need some help in furthering my Sharingan use and strengthening my body against its effects." He asked a little hesitantly, hoping this could be a more effective window to further their _friendship_. 

Atsuko thought for a moment, she was a little apprehensive of spending too much time with him but the more rebellious side of her spoke up, _don't be so pathetic, its not as if you're sensei and student is it? It might be fun to have a little male company…_ she could tell that side of her was winning, and logic and sensibility was loosing its footing, _well, it's either challenging him or one-touch Daisuke… now how much more appealing does he sound?_

"Sure, no problem, I'm not sure how I could be of all that much help, but…" she trailed off a little at just how easily she'd given in to herself; that bad side of her compelling her to ask, in a sort of subtle way,

"Well, I don't know your fighting style well enough yet, and you've use a few Jutsus that I 'm not too familiar with, plus it makes it a little more interesting fighting a partner that you don't know so well," he smiled glad she accepted.


	11. Next Two Drinks Free

Yo, this chapter has a bit of bad language in, so if you're sensitive to it, please be warned!

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><p>..<p>

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [11] : The Next Two Drinks Free, If You Leave Now :_

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><p>Atsuko and Kakashi had been sat chatting for quite a while, he was relieved that she seemed much more comfortable with him that earlier in the day, having seen her smile more often in the past few hours. They were interrupted by a knock at the door, Kakashi looked at the clock which said it was <em>exactly<em> six, even the second hand was on the dot,

"Was Kurenai being sarcastic when she said 'six-_ish?'_" Kakashi asked looking at Atsuko who laughed as Kakashi stood to answer the door,

"Well, she has a bit of a thing about time,"

"You're not kidding," he replied as he opened the door and let Kurenai in,

"Kakashi you're still here?" she asked a little surprised, as the slightly as she walked in through the door and set the bag she was carrying on the small table.

"Well, yea," he responded, taking a seat on the sofa and getting comfortable,

"What are you doing?" Kurenai asked, surprised at his actions,

"I'm sitting here," he responded with a hint of amusement in his voice, knowing he was annoying Kurenai,

"Kakashi, I don't mean to be rude, but I was hoping that I could talk with Atsuko, alone," Kurenai looked hard at him, as though trying to not-so-subtly-to fuck off, which Kakashi was either ignoring or blind to,  
>"I know and that's fine, the doctor told me to keep an eye on her,"<p>

"Well, _I'm_ here; I can keep an eye on her."

"Why are you so eager for me to leave? Are you going to talk about me?" he was clearly struggling to hide his amusement,

"No, actually, I've got a few questions to ask her on Daisuke's behalf," Kakashi's expression seemed suspiciously unwavering,

"Really? Like What?" Kurenai just smiled in response, and turned to Atsuko,

"Are you hungry now, or would you rather wait until a little later?"

"Uh, in a bit, could you put it on the side for me?" Kurenai stood up and shot a look at Kakashi, as he followed her into the kitchen, she kept her head turned so Atsuko had no idea what they were saying,

"If you leave now, you can have your fist two drinks next time at the bar for free," Kakashi pondered it a little, "Just go for a walk and come back in a few hours, what's your problem?"

"Just curious," Kakashi returned, "Fine, but I damn well better get those drinks!"

"Ahaha, of course you will," Kakashi turned back to Atsuko,

"Well, it looked like Kurenai has more persuasive power than I gave her credit for; I'll see you a bit later, sure you'll be ok?"

"Yea, yea, we'll be fine," Atsuko replied giving a slight roll of her eyes to tell Kakashi he was fussing,

"Oh, well, I'll see you guys later," he turned and walked out of the door, leaving the two Kuniochi alone.

"What did you say to get him to leave?"

"I'd by him a drink or two next time we went out," Atsuko couldn't help but laughed at how well that one worked,

"Might have to remember that one," she grinned back at her long haired friend.

"Hey, were you serious about what you said about Daisuke?" Atsuko couldn't resist asking, as Kurenai returned with a bottle of Asahi in her hand,

"Fancy a glass?" she asked as Atsuko nodded, "And no, but _I_ have some questions about Daisuke to ask you… and Kakashi." She busied herself pouring out two small cups of Asahi, and handed one to Atsuko,

"Geeze, do we have to?"

"Yep, because I think I can figure out your thinking about these two," she sat back in the chair a little, "But they sure as hell can't," Atsuko couldn't help but sigh in frustration,

"I don't see why I just can't be friends with both of them,"

"Are you serious?" Kurenai stared at her friend, "They're not fighting for you to be their friend, what do you think we are? Children? Atsuko, they both _like_ you; which is why they _don't_ like each other."

"So basically I have to choose between challenging Kakashi or one-touch Daisuke if there's ever going to be any peace?" Kurenai could help but burst into laughter louder than Atsuko had ever heard from her,

"One-touch Daisuke eh? Never though of him like that though it seems to fit,"

"I am curious though, do you like Daisuke? As in do think anything could happen between you?"

"No, I don't to be honest, I mean he's a nice guy and I don't really see much wrong with him but I just don't like him like that," Kurenai nodded in slight approval, but Atsuko couldn't be bothered to ask what was on her mind. Eventually they ate and Atsuko had to admit, the other stuff that Kurenai bought (besides the shitake mushrooms and the udon she requested) was delicious –

"Here, I brought you some panda biscuits and some dango, it will help with the energy replenishment," Kurenai left two packets of the sweets for Atsuko to keep on the table,

"Thank you, and that was actually really good,"

"Hey, don't say it like I've got no taste!" Atsuko couldn't help but laugh.

"We should go for a drink again soon, it's been so busy lately and a lot's happened, I think everyone could do with cheering up. I was thinking the day after tomorrow or so, but it depends on if you're feeling well enough," Atsuko nodded,

"Yea, that would be really nice, I'd like to go for a drink soon, and that sounds absolutely fine I should be better by then as I feel ok now, it's just the moving around I find a little difficult,"

"Don't worry, we might not be able to make that day either, but we can see when Kakashi and Asuma are free. That is, assuming Daisuke doesn't show up and annoy Kakashi, who I'm guessing that you _do_ like," Kurenai had a funny glint in her eye, Atsuko hesitated, not fully prepared to admit it,

"Well, yea… I guess I do but I highly doubt that he likes me that much,"

"He clearly likes enough to take this good care of you, and you're clearly very important to him so… where's the harm in… _clarifying_ a few things?"

"I see your point… but I'm not prepared to risk anything, I've only just made friends with the guy again, I don't want to risk screwing that up for the sake of something I'm not even sure I really feel," Kurenai nodded showing she understood what Atsuko had said,

"That's fair enough, but how long will you be happy with just that?"

"Hey! Don't say such weird things! Saying stuff like that really freaks me out… geeze, how far ahead have you planned Kakashi and I out?"

"Ahah, sorry I didn't mean it quite like that,"

Atsuko rolled her eyes, suddenly feeling very on edge, she took a deep breath feeling the stabbing pain in her ribs which had been the case since she left hospital, but the pain didn't go away like it should normally do, instead it kept getting worse,

"Ah…ow…" Atsuko hunched over in pain,

"Shit, what's wrong?"

"Ribs… medicine on… side," Kurenai stood and rushed over to fetch the little bottle, as she reappeared at her friend's side, she uncorked the bottle and handed it to Atsuko, who with some effort, took a huge glug and handed it back to Kurenai, nearly spilling it in the process. Eventually it worked its magic and Atsuko could breath more normally, although she looked exhausted.

"Any better?"

"Yea… damn I suddenly feel really tired,"

"Can you get up?" Atsuko shook her head as it drooped down to her chest, signify she was asleep;

"Damn, she can go to sleep fast," Kurenai muttered to herself, knowing that she probably couldn't lift Atsuko's dead weight (especially not after a few drinks) she have to wait for Kakashi to get back. In the mean time she cleared up all of the rubbish and crockery from their meal, washing up most of the items, but she didn't get very far before there was a knock at the door.

"Ah! Good, you can move Atsuko,"

"Eh?" Kakashi responded a little blankly as Kurenai moved allowing him to walk through the door, but he understood when he set eyes on Atsuko's sleeping form, "Oh, how come she didn't go to bed?"

"Her ribs stared acting up, but when she took the medicine she almost instantly fell asleep, and I can't move her," Kakashi nodded in response, immediate walking over to her and picking her up with great ease before disappearing into her bedroom to return a few seconds later.

"Anything else happen?"

"Nah, just had a good laugh,"

"Hope you weren't laughing at me,"

"Yea, yea you wish," Kurenai responded, slipping on her shoes, "hey I'd better go as I've got to get up early, but are you free for a drink in a day or so when Atsuko's well enough?" Kakashi nodded as an affirmative,

"Sure, a night out with you lot and two free drinks, sounds like a good night to me," Kurenai smiled ruefully,

"I'm sure," Kakashi merely laughed at her response as she walked out of the door,

Kakashi closed the door, wondering what he was supposed to do as he was expecting Atsuko to still be awake to entertain him, his eyes came to rest on the little target stuck to the wall, feeling a little tempted, he dragged out a little shuriken and threw it at the target, which hit perfectly. It was surprisingly entertaining (when there was nothing else to do) to be sat on a sofa doing target practice; eventually though, he couldn't be bothered any more feeling that he'd rather read, he went to go and collect his shuriken, the target was a little higher than it seemed.

He couldn't find a chair and not wanting to make too much noise he created a shadow clone which appeared on his own shoulders, it successfully retrieved all of the shuriken and was down to the last one, which was stuck in a little deeper than the others, the clone had to put in more force but when it eventually came free, his arm swung back and smacked into the cabinet by his side. This caused a small vase on the top of the cabinet to wobble and fall, before he could undo the Jutsu, it smashed onto the ground with a not so quiet noise.

"Shit," he caught the shuriken his clone had dropped in disappearing and knelt to try and deal with the smashed vase.

"Typical," he muttered quietly to himself as he looked at the vase which had smashed in what looked like a million pieces. Hearing no other noise he guessed that he hadn't woken Atsuko up, much to his relief; as he scooped up the remains of the vase. It was little, probably not much bigger than his spread hand – but it wasn't his vase… He placed the little bits on the table, highly doubting that he'd be able to put it back together again, and even if he could it probably wouldn't look too much like a vase anymore.

Construction (or reconstruction as was the case here) really wasn't his sort of thing, _what should I do? Leave it here and tell Atsuko in the morning? Throw it away? Attempt to put it back together? Damn, none of those sound like good options_. He sat on the edge of the sofa with his head in his hand for a while, thinking about what he should do, he was feeling quite tired and couldn't really be all that bothered with thinking much further, but before he knew it, his eye closed and he fell straight to sleep.

"Kakashi?" He heard his name, but ignored it a little, "Kakashi!" he felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him a little, "Wake up," he cracked an eye open to see Atsuko staring at him like he was crazy – for whatever unfathomable reason. Waking up a little more, he realized that he was lying on the floor, on his side in a very uncomfortable fashion, sitting up he looked around and saw that the bits of smashed vase were still there, telling him he hadn't had some crazy dream.

"Why were you on the floor? There was a sofa, ya know," Atsuko grinned a little at him from where she was stood in front of him,

"I know… and I thought I went to sleep on it," he stood up and saw her eyeing the bits of vase, "err, I'm sorry, I was doing some target practice and one got stuck, when I yanked it out I knocked into the cabinet and it fell and smashed… uh, I guess I fell asleep thinking about what to do with the remnants." He looked at her expression which changed suddenly into a highly amused grin,

"Don't worry," the laughter was evident in her voice, "I did that once before, though luckily for me it only split in two, and I was able to salvage it, haha, it was a stupid place to put it," she laughed at the pathetic pile of porcelain,

"Uh… are you sure? I'm happy to buy you a new one if you like, to replace it,"

"Nah, don't worry, I never had a use for it anyway. Would you like some tea?" Kakashi nodded, feeling relieved that he hadn't smashed an heirloom or something.

Kakashi had just finished repacking all his kunai and shuriken into his pouches and turned toward the door,

"Well, you seem fine enough, sure you'll be ok on your own?"

"Yea, no worries,"

"Good, and… I'm really sorry about the vase, I guess I was a little clumsier than I thought," he scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile,

"Hey, I said 'forget it', ok? There's no problem, and I'll see you in a few days for a drink?" she waved a little as he walked off nodding once,

"See you," she closed the door and turned to look at the smashed porcelain, thinking how funny the look on his face must have been when he smashed it.


	12. One Drink

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [12] : Eh, Let Him Stay For One Drink :_

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><p>Atsuko was making her way to the bar to meet Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi, it had felt like far too long since she was out with those three and really missed them. The nights were getting a little colder and it was raining more often signifying winter's approach although she was well wrapped in her cloak, she could still feel a chill, as she made her way in, her eyes fell over the room, not spotting <em>anyone<em>.

"Crap," she muttered under her breath, pulling the hood over her head, she wandered through to find a table in the corner, with a good view of the door. She sat for a while against the wall so only one side was free for someone else to sit, keeping her face expressionless, even though no one could see it, her shinobi training immediately kicked in as she sat, pondering some of the things Kurenai had said to her a few days ago. _It's obvious that he really cares for you, where's the harm in just …clarifying a few things?_ Atsuko shook her head a little at the memory, although she could definitely see and _wouldn't object_ (as she explained it to Kurenai) more that 'just friends' potential in Kakashi, she didn't make friends easily, and it was sheer good fortune that she got to know Kurenai and Asuma so well and thus her link to Kakashi.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice him approach the table, not until he placed a sake bottle and four cups down, one right in front of her, that she looked up,

"Asuma!" she smiled at him, lifting the hood off her head, and standing to greet him,

"Ya know, the point of being in doors is that you don't have to wear your cloak," he grinned, as she took it off a little hastily,

"Sorry, and I would have got the first drink for you, but well… uh… I-I didn't really want to have to face Daisuke here all alone," she grinned sheepishly scratching the back of her head,

"Well, now you don't have too," Asuma smiled taking a seat,

"W-well, I can't let you pay for that, so I'm Getting the next one, Ok?"

"Oi," Asuma pointed a gentle finger in her direction, "just think of it as a 'getting better' present; I'm glad the last quarter of the drinking team is back," he grinned in his classic fashion that Atsuko always found so reassuring: it was hard for something to be wrong when he held that expression, he busied himself while pouring two cups out,

"I-if you're sure-"

"Too late," he smirked, "The sake is poured thus, it must be drunk," he replaced the cork back in the bottle and they both gulped down their cupfuls, a look of satisfaction of the sweet taste of sake, appeared on Atsuko's face – or at least what Asuma could see of it.

"I was really surprised to see that you're also a wind chakra type," Asuma began in his typical brotherly fashion to Atsuko, he was a few years older, and they were surprisingly alike; often much to Kurenai's amusement in the way Asuma would talk about things as though he were forty years older and wiser.

"Yea… hang on 'also'? You're wind type too?" she queried,

"Yup, though I prefer my knives to just straight chakra energy providing the attack… that was some insane attack, Atsuko… when did you develop it? And what the hell is it?" he asked, looking faintly impressed,

"Ah-haha… yea, I developed it a few years ago an it's a damn good defense as well as an attack, but it does leave me nearly completely drained, so it's sort of a 'last resort'," Asuma nodded in understanding,

"I have to say I was amazed where you found the chakra for that at the _end_ of a fight,"

"Well, I had a suspicion that I might need it, so I held back on ninjitsu, to make sure I had at least some chakra in reserve." She explained,

"Well, that makes a little more sense… rather than the 'superhuman' explanation, hahahah," she couldn't resist laughing at Asuma's joke with him,

"Oi… you two laugh anymore and I might start getting suspicious," the feminine voice of Kurenai halted their laugher as she joined the table, a large grin on her face.

"Kurenai!" Atsuko looked as pleased to see her as she did Asuma, "quick, you've got have a cup of sake before the bottles gone," she pulled the cork out of the bottle and left it rolling around on the table as she poured a cup for Kurenai and topping up her own an Asuma's at the same time, setting the bottle back on the table. Kurenai took a seat next to Asuma who leaned his arm over the back of Kurenai's chair, leaving the only free seat next to Atsuko;

"If Kakashi doesn't get his ass here soon enough, there won't _be _any sake for him," Asuma laughed, as Atsuko shot a look at Kurenai remembering the promise she made to Kakashi to get him his first two drinks in order for him to leave the apartment. Atsuko couldn't resist a laugh at her expense, literally,

"What?" Asuma queried, a little confused,

"I needed to talk to Atsuko last night but Kakashi would 'get out of the way' if you know what I mean, so I promised him the first two drinks when we next went out if he'd leave Atsuko's apartment." Kurenai explained,

"Why was he still there? I though he was to pick Atsuko up at eleven?" Kurenai simply looked at him and he seemed to understand, "Oh, _right_,"

"What?" Atsuko looked between them trying to figure out what silent conversation had just happened.

"Yo," Kakashi appeared, holding up his hand as a greeting, as he took the free seat opposite Kurenai and rather close to Atsuko as she felt her chest tighten a little, he picked up the bottle of sake, and finding that it was empty, he looked at the female Jounin expectantly. She sighed and stood up, "I'm getting two bottles of sake-"

"Three," Kakashi cut across her, "Two won't be enough to keep your agreement and share it with you lot," he responded but Kurenai merely rolled her eyes as she walked off towards the bar. She returned a short time later, holding the three bottles and a slightly odd look,

"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked eying the bottles,

"N-nah, nothing," Kurenai placed the bottles down and took a seat, Kakashi grabbed one of the bottles, pouring Atsuko out some first, then offering to the rest of the table, before pouring his own, with the company momentarily distracted by something Kakashi quickly quaffed his drink and replacing his mask in a flash before pouring another cup and allowing it rest for a moment. He looked up and set eyes on a rather unpleasant sight, although he kept his demeanor unchanged, he wasn't quite so calm internally,

"Atsuko! You're back on your feet so soon!" Daisuke's smooth voice glided over to her, as she looked at him and smiled lightly although unconvincingly, her mask having long since been pulled down enabling her to drink.

"Yea, I got out yesterday, and these guys insisted I came for a drink,"

"Well, I'm _really_ happy to see you," he smiled, leaning over the table, invading Kakashi's personal space.

Atsuko felt Kakashi tense a little, but she wasn't sure why, she also knew that he'd visited her in hospital while she wasn't conscious and wanted to thank him a little,

"D-Daisuke, do you have the time for a small cup of sake? I want to thank you for visiting me in hospital… an-and for the flowers," she said timidly, not _really_ wanting him here but felt obliged scratching the back of her head a little, feeling three pairs of eyes on her, those of Asuma, Kurenai and Daisuke all looked very surprised.

"Of course I can!" he sounded a little over excited, "hang on," he rushed off to fetch a cup and retuned dragging a stool behind him Daisuke took a seat, but not before look a little disgruntled at where he sat.

"Here," Atsuko handed him one of the bottles, but he only help up his cup in return, clearly expecting Atsuko to pour him a drink; grumbling a little she did so, and he flashed her a brilliant smile.

"So," Daisuke began, leaning on the table, in front of Kakashi again, "How did it feel to be the heroine and save these guys' asses?"

"Ahaha, well I'm certainly _not_ a heroine… But I'm happy that I was able to be there for you guys," she looked at Asuma and Kurenai meeting their gazes, and then to Kakashi who was simply staring into his drink – or as she could guess, only being able to see the edge of his haita-ate and mask of what his drooping quiff of hair didn't cover. She raised her cup looking at the others expecting them to do the same which three did so,

"I'm not sure what I'd do without you guys," she half whispered, looking squarely between the two Jounin opposite her, flicking her eyes to Kakashi, who wasn't paying any attention.

"Like wise," Kurenai said before they all downed their drinks, Daisuke included, not seeing to notice or care her comment wasn't meant for him.

Daisuke stayed with them for more than _one drink_, with Kurenai and Asuma made him welcome as best they could, but Kakashi stayed silent, burying himself in his book and not looking up once, occasionally swiping a quick drink, his unmasked face securely covered by his book.

"Atsuko," she heard Asuma's deep voice, and looked to him, "Join me for one?" as he held up a cigarette, she nodded sensing the seriousness in his tone, and stood a little although cramped by the table,

"Excuse me, Kakashi," she asked politely, but getting no response from him, "Kakashi," she repeated placing a gently hand on his shoulder, clearly noticing the touch he looked around to her, "sorry, but I need to get out,"

"Oh, sorry," he stood up and forced Daisuke to move out of the way as well,

"Thanks," she said looking him in the eye for what seemed like the first time since last night, as she and Asuma headed for the door, she shivered a little, wishing she'd thought to bring her cloak.

"Atsuko" Asuma started, pausing momentarily to light his cigarette, "why is Daisuke still here? And _don't_ tell me you're blind to those two or how they're acting," Asuma stared at his slightly shorter friend, with a rather unimpressed expression,

"What do you mean? Daisuke's just how he usually is and Kakashi's… grumpy for some reason," Atsuko shrugged her shoulders, a little irritated that Kakashi reverted back to his old ways, rather than the more social one she remembered from last time…

"And _why_ would Kakashi be grumpy?" He pushed, along with a sharp exhale of smoke,

"How am I supposed to know?" she retorted irritated, "He's a mystery to just about everyone," Atsuko folded her arms and turned her head away from him a little, feeling foolish. Allowing her Kuniochi instincts to take over, she allowed an emotionless expression to take over her face, she looked back at Asuma; ignoring whatever it was she felt on the inside.

"Atsuko, I took you for one more intelligent that this… Kakashi is annoyed _because_ of Daisuke," she stayed silent for a moment,  
>"Then why are you talking to me?" Asuma return to silence look much less than impressed, taking one last drag of his cigarette,<p>

"You have a choice, Atsuko," Asuma walked over to the window where their table and it's current occupants could be seen, she followed him, still unsure of what exactly he was getting to, "Atsuko… for once, use that brain of yours for non shinobi matters, and _think_." Asuma wandered inside with Atsuko following a little slowly, walking back over to the table, she saw that both Kakashi and Daisuke had disappeared.

"Where are those two?" Asuma asked, as he returned to his seat, as Atsuko did, she poured another cup of sake and swallowed it quickly, and action she repeated a further twice in relatively quick succession, feeling worried at Asuma's words.

"I think Kakashi went to the toilet and Daisuke was called back to the bar," Kurenai responded, the relief evident in her voice, "Anta baka? Are you an idiot?" Kurenai whispered to Atsuko, but she got no reply as Kakashi returned to the table, looking a little happier to see that Daisuke had disappeared; he too drank three successive cups of sake in less than thirty seconds before he turned or said anything,

"I don't want to waste the sake, so who's up for a drinking contest? I need to finish it quickly and head back as I'm sure I'll need to see my genin in the morning,"

"Yes." Atsuko sounded a little more resolute and desperate than she intended, "What are the rules?"

"Every time it takes you longer than three seconds to fill up the cup, you have to drink three in a row, every time someone looks over to this table, we have to drink two in a row… every time…"

"Someone gives me a weird look, drink three in a row," she said at which both Kurenai and Asuma both gave her what she'd classify as a 'weird, look', thus she immediately drank down as many as she could, as fast as she could, but only got to cup number five before she had to pause to prevent herself throwing up.

The game when on for only a little while, and she and Kakashi were getting a little drunk but not as much as the last time they were here… and there was about one more cup left in the bottle, which resulted in Kakashi and Atsuko fighting over it, as Asuma and Kurenai had drunken their fair share too,

"Come, on, Kakashi, you have to meet genin tomorrow, what are they gonna think?"

"Nothing," he replied, "I'll just go when I'm not hungover," Atsuko looked at him oddly and tried to swipe the bottle, but he moved away, resulting in her falling slightly into him.

"Alright," Asuma broke up their squabbling by grabbing the bottle off Kakashi, "I think it's time we left, come on," he said as Kakashi stood up as did Atsuko, they both stumbled out from the table and wandered outside, to be joined by Kurenai and Asuma a few minutes later. Atsuko was still struggling with her cloak, not fully realizing it was on backwards,

"Here," Kakashi tugged the cloak out of her hands and flung it around her shoulders on the correct way, she immediately looked much warmer and a cheery smile took over her face,

"Thank you… I'm not sure why I couldn't get it on,"

"Right, well, I think we'll leave you too two it; keep a good eye out," The last section of Asuma's sentence not really directed at anyone, although it rang a clear bell with both of them. Kakashi looked back at his friend,

"Come to mine, I think I owe you some tea," he said simply, allowing his hand to grab her own, he gently pulled her in the direction of his apartment. Eventually he let them inside, closing the door behind him, he put the water to boil and nodded for Atsuko to sit on his sofa, as she made herself comfortable, he allowed his eye to remain focused on the slightly intoxicated Kuniochi currently occupying his sofa with her back to him. Looking away momentarily to remove his vest, zori and headband, he looked back at his intriguing guest; to his surprise she randomly stood up, and turned to him. Atsuko thought over Asuma's words and she found the answer, _he must think that I'd rather sacrifice his friendship for the sake of Daisuke's!_

She pulled off her cloak allowing it to rest on the back of the sofa as she wandered over to him; he stood up a little unfolding his previously crossed arms, as he stared at her wondering what she was doing. He didn't make any attempt to stop her as she coiled her arms around him and rested her head sideways on his chest,

"Thank you, Kakashi."

"For what?" he asked, not moving and his breath catching in his chest a little, still unsure of what she was doing,

"For saving my life at the Chuunin exams, for taking me to hospital, for visiting everyday and for helping me home; I dunno, thank you everything I guess, you're been such a good friend to me even though we only really made friends _again_ such a short time ago," his body instantly relaxed as he understood, and snaked his arms around her back, squeezing her tightly too him, momentarily forgetting her injuries as he rested his chin on the top of her head,

"No problem at all," he whispered back, suddenly feeling _much_ more secure in how she'd thanked _him_ versus how she'd looked so awkward thanking Daisuke. The boiling water noise suddenly making them jump apart in surprise; Atsuko looked a little nervous, as she walked away feeling too uncomfortable to randomly stand there. Kakashi busied himself making tea as the thought struck him, _did she like Daisuke as she looked so unsure when she was only offering him a drink, yet in hugging me she looked like it didn't bother her at all… don't people usual get uncomfortable around people they like?_

Forcing the thought out of his head, he walked over to the sofa and handed a cup to Atsuko who gratefully accepted, they drank in silence for a little while; Kakashi leaned forward and tilted his head away from her so he could drink the tea without her seeing his face. Finishing his tea and replacing his mask, he looked back at Atsuko, ready to ask something but discovered that she'd fallen asleep. He sighed a little placing his own cup on the small table and he took her half empty one out of her hand, removed the headband from her forehead and pulled off her zori.

Kakashi picked her up with the same ease he had done the day before, and carried her over to the bed setting her down; as much as he would have liked to, he refused to allow himself to even consider lying down next to her. Instead he placed her long warm cloak over her as she was lying on the covers and he was too tired to bother with picking her up again. Especially not as she looked so comfortable, he looked at her a moment longer before turning to set himself down on the settee, cursing the existence of emotions.


	13. A Little Frustrating

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [13] : A Little Frustrating :_

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><p>Kakashi awoke to a rather odd sound of controlled, short breaths, opening his eyes and sitting up feeling a little confused (preventing his mind from thinking up <em>one<em> excuse) he looked around, spotting Atsuko on the floor doing push-ups,

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" he asked, rising to his feet and walking over to his kitchen to make some tea,

"I am resting," she paused for another push-up, "…sort of… besides I can't afford to let my body get lazy… which is made… all the more difficult with… your lazy a-self around," silently cursing herself for nearly using the expression 'lazy ass'.

"Maybe I'm a good influence, you should take life easier," he stated, again leaning on the side waiting for the water to boil as his one open eye studied her intently, wondering how long she'd been exercising for while he slept.  
>"Sorry, this Kuniochi can't" she paused a moment, shifting onto her back, and beginning some sit-ups, "I'm sure I'll have a mission in a few days, so I can't afford to get lazy… <em>unlike<em> if I were a sensei," she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes with a mischievous smile on her lips as she took a small dig at him,

"Are you implying that because I train genin, I don't have to work so hard?"

"Of course… they do all of… the…easiest missions… you… only have to… mind them…" pausing her words to complete the sit up, Kakashi rolled his eyes and poured the water into the pot,

"Pour it out when it's ready, I need to change," he wandered off, as Atsuko remained doing her exercises, satisfied that she'd done enough, she walked over and poured out some tea for the both of them and walked over to the sofa and took a seat, noting how warm it still was from him having laid there all night. She sipped her tea lightly as Kakashi returned, fully dressed in his vest and headband,

"If you're so obsessed about keeping fit, would you like to spar again? But preferably _not_ for too long this time?" He took a seat next to her,

"Yea… that sounds like a plan; what does 'not for too long' mean?"

"Well, say if we try to decide a winner within… two or two and a half hours?" Atsuko nodded in approval; that definitely sounded like a better way to spar this time,

"Sure," she gulped down the rest of her tea, "See you there," as she disappeared in a puff of smoke, Kakashi rolled his eyes, _I didn't mean we had to go right now… or meet there separately… geeze_, he slowly finished his tea, feeling in no rush whatsoever. Eventually after a pleasant and leisurely stroll to the training grounds, he found Atsuko, hanging upside down by her feet from a tree branch doing some odd version of a sit up.

She spotted him and jumped down, "_Finally_! I thought I'd have to come back and _drag_ you here," she held a slight hint of both annoyance and amusement in her voice her mask securely on her face,

"Well, I didn't mean that we had to leave immediately… and you're starting to sound impatient and rather like Naruto," he stated, not liking the similarity too much,

"Ah, sorry… ehehe, I'm just a little excited to be up and doing something having spent so long doing nothing and sort of assumed that we'd be fighting now from the way you spoke… sorry… I know Naruto's not a very nice similarity to draw," she spoke scratching the back of her head a little, feeling horribly conscious that she wasn't acting much like herself, in fact she never seemed to be herself around this guy…_well, then time to put that to rights… I can't afford feeling that go beyond acquaintances or one or two friends_ she thought to herself. Never liking to get to know someone too well after the loss of her mother – and subsequent lost of Sakumo-san and Kakashi while she was still so young.

Kakashi couldn't resist a small smile at the expression she held, she got into a fighting stance closing her eyes momentarily. When she opened them again, it seemed to Kakashi that the Atsuko he knew had gone and in her place a puppet had been swapped, her face was completely expressionless and her eyes looked dead.

"Ready?" she asked, the inclination on her voice sounding more like a report on her state than a question as to begin fighting, concerned a little but ignoring it, Kakashi stepped back into a fighting stance and pulling up his headband, just in time to duck a few shuriken thrown at him, she followed them quickly and he only just dodged. She was fast, throwing a multitude of kicks and punches at him, and although he block them relatively easily, the thought occurred that it might not have been so easy were it not for his Sharingan.

She dragged out some sebon needles from her pouch and threw them at him, as she jumped back several paces, Kakashi dodged and did see the thin chakra threads connecting them, but pretended he did not. She yanked on the threads with great force, and had them intertwine with each other creating a near lethal noose which closed in on Kakashi at an alarming rate. He lept up just in time _my Sharingan is definitely getting some good use today_ he thought sarcastically, as he leapt backwards towards the river and began a series of complex hand seals. A giant jet of water shot out of the water aimed at Atsuko, who performed her own Katon Jutsu to counter the water, when the steam cleared Kakashi was still stood on the water;

"Not bad, Atsuko, but…" he again began some hand seals, as three clones shot out of the water, straight at Atsuko, who quickly performed her lightening chakra bolts, her face remaining emotionless throughout the entire fight.

She dodged one and sent the bolts to the Kakashi stood still on the water, which turned out to be a clone, she turned and began to form some hand seals in a flash and a kage bunshin appeared but immediately shot off into the surrounding trees, Atsuko began to fight in Taijitsu form with Kakashi, who dodged easily, her punches. Secretly and suppressing its chakra, it crept up behind him turning into a windmill shuriken, sensing this, both he and Atsuko dodged to allow it to pass closely between them, but Kakashi was faster. Grabbing her left arm, he yanked her around and pushed her to the floor, with one knee on her spine and the other foot trapping her left arm to the ground, he used his right hand to hold a kunai to her neck and his other throwing a shuriken at a clone; using his Sharingan to predict it's movement, there was a direct hit and it disappeared.

"I guess that means I win," he said, allowing the smile to show through his voice,

"I guess it means you do," she responded as he got up, releasing her from such an uncomfortable position,

"Annoyed that you lost this time?" he queried, questioning her still emotionless state.

"N… nah," she relaxed a little, "It's best _never_ to let your emotions get the better of you," Kakashi thought it best not to ask why she had such a strange emphasis on 'never'.

"Ahh, I'm tired and hungry… do you fancy getting something to eat?" he queried, looked back at her more normal relaxed expression, realizing just how much he liked it, having seen how cold she could get.

"Mmmh… yea, actually, I guess I am pretty hungry; where would you like to go?"

"Ichiraku's?"

"Sure," she responded, not caring to much where, feeling extremely tired realizing that she still wasn't quite in shape after her injuries. They were half way back to Ichiraku's when she stumbled a little, Kakashi close by quickly curled an arm around her waist, preventing her from falling over, as she felt her heart skip a beat,

"Would you rather I take you back to your place?"

"Nah, I think I just need a meal and a sit-down," she responded politely, flinging her arm around his shoulders trying to prevent the heat rising to her cheeks, "sorry, but I think I'll need a hand getting there," she smiled sheepishly at him,

"No problem," he gripped her a little tighter to keep her steady as they made it to Ichiraku's; he set her down on a stool at the end, and claimed the only stool next to her,

"Well, what would you like Atsuko-san, Kakashi-san?" Tenchi, the owner asked them with a kind smile, as Kakashi looked at her,

"Uhh, miso ramen with extra pork, please," Tenchi nodded, as looked at Kakashi,  
>"Same, please," Tenchi nodded and turned to cook the noodles,<p>

"We need to spar more often… damn, you nearly had me with that henge kage bunshin," Kakashi spoke, turning to face her,

"Eh, maybe… I can't believe I didn't see your last move coming, damn my spine still hurts." She muttered, rubbing her mid back a little,

"Ahh, sorry, maybe I put a little too much weight on that knee," he scratched the back of his head a little,

"Nah, don't worry, I guess I'm just not quite back up to full strength yet but a bowl of ramen and I'll be fine," Kakashi smiled back at her, but their peace didn't last as long as they would have liked,

"Fancy seeing you _two_ here," a voice interrupted them, they both turned to look at the bartend who approached them, _Daisuke_. Kakashi couldn't help but feel relief that he was sat next to Atsuko, and that there was no stool on her far side.

"What happened to you two? Fighting?" Daisuke asked, with a hint of something in his voice, that neither could quite work out,

"Yea," Atsuko replied, "we were sparring,"

"Why?" Daisuke fixed a stare at Kakashi,

"Atsuko needs to regain her strength after sustaining her injuries and I need to keep up my strength also, so we decided to spar," Daisuke nodded,

"Who won?"

"I did" Kakashi replied, not looking at him,

"Here you are Kakashi-san, Atsuko-san," Tenchi interrupted, handing them both two bowls of ramen, "Would you like anything Daisuke-san?" he asked,

"No thank you, I just came to chat to these two, if that's ok," he responded flashing Tenchi a small smile,

"No problem, but if it gets too busy, I will have to ask you to leave," Daisuke nodded in understanding, before turning back to Kakashi,

"Don't tell me you were too hard on her, Kakashi,"

"Of course not, but Atsuko is a skilled Kuniochi, and if we didn't push each other to our limits, how would we know our levels?" Kakashi responded coolly, as Atsuko remained silent, stirring her noodles with a pair of chopsticks as she pulled down her mask, wishing Daisuke would leave… or better yet, never having shown up.

Atsuko ate her noodles quickly, and was done while Kakashi had not yet touched his; she could feel the tension between the two, _why can't I just be friends with both of them? _She questioned herself silently, sighing lightly in the process,

"Are you alright, Atsuko? Is your back still hurting?" she heard Kakashi whisper gently to her, looking directly into her eyes,

"Uh… nah it's fine, thank you… though I think I should head off and get some rest-"

"Don't go Atsuko, there's something I wanted to ask you," Daisuke's smooth voice interrupted, as she looked at him, feeling uneasy. As luck would have it, (and something Atsuko was grateful for a _hell_ of a long time after) a large crowd of people walked into Ichiraku's,

"I'm sorry Daisuke-san, but if you don't want to order anything, then you'll have to leave, I'm very sorry, Daisuke-san" Tenchi spoke with his usual polite demeanor,

"Of course, Tenchi-san, I'll be back during the week," Daisuke smiled at Tenchi and shot Atsuko a – for want of a better word – suggestive smile,

"I'll have to see you later, Atsuko, I hope it won't be too long," Atsuko could do little but smile weakly back at him as he turned and walked away.

Atsuko couldn't help but close her eyes and let out a long sigh of relief as the tension in the air immediately dissipated, as she opened her eyes again, Kakashi had finished his bowl of ramen and was looking at Atsuko with an unreadable expression.

"Fancy some tea?" he asked, intently staring at the Kuniochi next to him,

"Uh… yea, sure," she replied, reaching into her pockets and dragging out some notes (with a large tip) and placed them on the bar for Tenchi, who smiled gratefully, as she stood, lifting the half-curtains and walked out from the small shop, looking up at the sky wondering if her life would ever be simple. Kakashi followed her out a few seconds later, with an odd look, they began to walk down the path for a little while,

"Are you alright?" Atsuko stared at his unchanged expression, as they turned down a quiet alley, he stopped,

"Do you mind if we take the quick way?" He asked, while taking a step closer to her; he coiled an arm tightly around her as they both suddenly appeared outside his apartment door,

"N-no, I don't mind," she quipped as he let go of her, flashing her what she could only guess was a weak smile.

As Atsuko had been sat on the sofa for a few minutes wondering why Kakashi was in a slightly odd mood, said Jounin brought over a small tray with a pot of tea and two cups which he placed on the table and took a seat next to her. She couldn't help but feel confused and slightly irritated at the tension which suddenly came over the two when Daisuke appeared, a question was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. Kakashi busied himself with pouring two cups of tea as he pulled off his chuunin vest and haite-ate. As he handed one to Atsuko, she accidentally brushed fingers with him again, silently cursing herself for it as she dragged her mask down around her neck and leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees, the cup clasped between both of her hands.

"Atsuko." Kakashi voice was suddenly firm, if not a little demanding, "Can I ask you a question?"

'Yea," she was feeling suddenly very insecure,

"Do you like Daisuke? As in _like_ him as potential for more than a friend?" his voice seemed oddly cold to her,

"No. I don't" she responded, certain in her words as she looked at him holding an odd, if not surprised expression,

"Why not?" Atsuko couldn't help bit roll her eyes, _why the hell is everybody do interested in who I 'apparently' like?_ She placed her cup back on the table and stood up, not sure what emotion she should show to him as she took a few steps away, she heard him stand also and follow closely behind, "Why do you care whether I like him or not?" she didn't really expect a response and feeling very insecure; leaning on the door frame where the hall connected to the living room.

Kakashi was close behind, determined to get a definite answer to the _real_ question he wanted to ask, he took a hold of her right upper arm and turned her around so her back was flat against the wall. In frustration and having no idea exactly what Kakashi wanted from her, she closed her eyes and taking a deep breath in and out she licked her lips a little – in leaving them parted, preparing to answer trying to ignore then high tension in the air – but she never got there. Before she could open her eyes or say a word, she felt a pair of moist warm lips on her own.

He touched their lips very gently before he fully realized what he was doing, but in knowing that he _hated_ feathery kisses with nothing to them, he pushed back a little more firmly, placing one hand on the wall next to her with his other still holding certainly but gently onto her right arm. He kept a very tight reign on his desire, waiting for some form of response from her; which he got after seemingly an eternity to him, she thrust her chin forward a little creating a better seal on their lips. Surprising him, considering her slow reaction to his kiss, he felt her tongue brush his lips and he allowed her entrance – but only so far as to meet his own tongue. As their kiss became more passionate and demanding, Kakashi pulled the arm his hand was holding towards him and as Atsuko took a half-step forward, his free hand instantly curled around her waist whilst his other let go of her wrist and coiled it around her mid back, pulling her close. Both her arms found their way around him gripping him tightly, her fingers rubbing slightly over his still cloth covered skin. They paused for a moment, as she felt Kakashi rest his forehead on her own (even thought it was covered by her headband) and the tip of his nose touched the top of her cheek.

It would definitely take more control that he first thought to prevent his body reacting in a _very inappropriate way _to the situation_. _

He took a few deep breaths in and out – still wondering at how he was supposed to explain himself. Again before he could think the situation through fully, he connected their lips again wanting more, reflecting Atsuko's previous action by pushing his chin forward and eliciting a small hum of satisfaction, only further egging him on allowing their tongues to once again entangle. Atsuko couldn't help but pull him closer to her, resulting in her chest being pushed into him slightly as she tensed her arms, liking the feeling of being held so securely. But before either were prepared to stop, a sharp knock at the door, surprised them so much that they jumped apart as thought they'd received an electric shock. Kakashi turned to look at the door, while whipping his mask back onto his face, uncertain whether he should bother to answer or not,

"Yo, Kakashi are you in or what?"

"Asuma," Atsuko breathed, feeling even more awkward, as Kakashi looked back at her, his one eye showing yet _another_ expression she couldn't read,

"Uh… hang on," he called, his usually lazy voice called out, as he walked away from Atsuko and towards the door, looking quickly back at her she walked back over to take a seat on the sofa picking up her now cold tea, trying to steady her breathing.

"Hey, hope you're not busy, but-" Asuma stopped his words as he set eyes on Atsuko, "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to barge in," he seemed to have a strange smile on face,

"You didn't we were just having tea," Kakashi covered, his face appropriately bored and as if _nothing_ had happened, Atsuko finished her tea in one gulp, and rose to her feet,

"Maybe I should go, and leave you guys to it," she said, walking over to the door flashing a smile, "See ya, Asuma," just as she was half out the door, she couldn't resist shooting one last look at Kakashi, who kept an impenetrable stare on his face as she disappeared from view.

She didn't really care – not that it was such an issue – that she hadn't got a clear look at his face… far more important things were playing on her mind, along with a large number of conflicting emotions and thoughts;_ why would Kakashi kiss me if there's this a problem about our friendship and Daisuke?_ She thought long and hard and she was sat on her sofa with a heel on her lounge table chucking kunai at her target on the wall, not concentrating much on her aim. No matter how much she remembered the earlier events, and though about Kakashi's possible motives, she got no answer – and no sleep.


	14. Taichou

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [14] : Taichou! :_

* * *

><p>Atsuko stood, kitted in full ANBU gear, in front of her ANBU Captain as he explained the mission to locate and take out a missing nin.<p>

"My sources inform me that he is headed towards the thunder country border, and considering his had start, it will take us three days at the very least to reach his location; there is rumor that he has certain ties with the Akatsuki – and especially as the village is still vulnerable, we need to get there, dispose of him and return as quickly as possible with a _minimum_ of injuries." Atsuko nodded in understanding, "I'm going to file a quick report on this and provide an estimate for the length of time, meet me at the main gate in half an hour; dismissed."

"Hai, Taichou," Atsuko responded, disappearing in a puff of smoke and appearing outside her apartment, she collected a few extra items necessary and packed them into the pouches hanging off her belt. She was more than capable of being a captain, but she wasn't one for leading or taking responsibility for others beyond the demands of friendship or camaraderie. She never much liked missions with others, much preferring to work alone, but her Taichou was an excellent shinobi and a good man having earned her respect some years ago; she didn't mind working with him _too_ much.

As she stood waiting for Kiji-Taichou at the front gates, forcing the memory of what happened the previous afternoon out of her head, half worried about what would happen when she next saw Kakashi, but also glad she didn't have to face him again so soon. It wasn't lost on her at how similar she was acting when they last had an 'incident' of waking up next to him (albeit still fully clothed, with the minor exception of a certain Jounin's _attractively_ shirtless chest) some weeks back. She forced the thought out of her head, and focused on the mission, with a number of pouches on her belt and a cloak covering her body, she stood patiently in cool air.

"Ready, Yutsi?" Kiji appeared out of nowhere, addressing his subordinate with her code name, she nodded in response and they disappeared off in the direction of their target.

It had been a long day, and they were both tired not having stopped since they left Konoha quite some hours earlier,

"We'll stop for a short rest, I'll keep watch for a few hours," Kiji stated, Atsuko laid down and almost immediately fell into an uneasy sleep, the past few days of both physical and emotional exhaustion beginning to catch up with her. The rest was all too short as soon Kiji woke her up to keep watch while he caught some sleep. She sat keeping her ears and eyes open for anything unusual feeling disgruntled that her thoughts almost immediately turned to Kakashi and their last encounter.

As the light began to creep over the trees turning the sky a deep shade of orange, Atsuko woke her Taichou, and they continued at an alarming pace. For the next two days, that was all they did, run and stop very occasionally to eat or sleep as the ache in her ribs was getting worse. Eventually they approached the thunder country and their target; luckily he wasn't too difficult to locate thanks to the detailed information they'd received. Although he was a tricky target, and had set numerous traps in an attempt to fool them, but they were ANBU and wise to almost any and every trick in the book; and some that weren't in the book.

"Okay, I'll head in first; you keep your distance for now and make sure he doesn't have any more back up keeping hidden,"

"Ossu," Kiji sped off and engaged the enemy, who was powerful their taijutsu was near evenly matched, as Atsuko suppressed her chakra and performed a quick scout of the area as she found no one, she watched the fight between her Taichou and the missing nin. The battle was long, and it was clear that Kiji was on the loosing side having cast a Genjitsu but it was all to quickly dispelled and left Kiji open to a kunai, Atsuko was desperate to jump in, but knew that he hated anyone randomly jumping in to help unless he called them. She sensed another chakra presence she sneaked over to its source and it turned out to be a kage bunshin, which she quickly dispatched; just managing to dodge a windmill shuriken, not having time to deflect it, it sped towards the main battle.

"Taichou!" Atsuko called out, giving Kiji time to lean out of the way, but in the process he was hit with a kunai being rammed under his ribs by the missing nin. She flung a few chakra string controlled sebon needles at the enemy, he managed to dodge the main noose of the chakra, but he couldn't move his arm fast enough and it was caught and cut off; along with his ability to form hand seals.

"Nice, Yutsi," Kiji called, quickly performing his hand seals himself, manipulating the earth element great tongues of earth sprouted and attempted to capture the missing nin, but he was too fast, he sprang away dodging the earth,

"Hah, to slow my pathetic leafy friends," she snide, arrogant nin shouted, as he landed right in front of the Taichou thrusting holding a windmill shuriken preparing to strike him, but Atsuko spotted another kage bunshin approaching from behind with another windmill shuriken, she performed her lightening hand seals seeing this as her opening, preparing her infamous Jutsu,

"Taichou, behind you!" as she sprang forward, the captain turned but was still caught by the shuriken, within a second Atsuko had collided with the missing nin, nearly obliterating him in the process; but the greatest weakness of her attack was that she was very vulnerable from behind and in her rage and speed, she'd tripped a wire releasing a trap of kunai at her. She avoided a few, but was caught by most nonetheless where the armour didn't cover her back completely; cancelling the Jutsu, she rushed over to her captain who no longer fighting the now gone shadow clone.

"Kiji-Taichou! Stay still, you are badly injured," As she got closer she saw that the final shuriken had pierced the top of his shoulder, by the fact he was still alive told her that it had missed his heart, but it was likely that his lungs were not so lucky.

"Come," she attempted to pick him up much in the same way she had done with Kakashi when they first sparred, but Kiji stopped her,

"N-no… I can't… leave me… here, just get back to Konoha… and… take my place… the village needs you." He was coughing up blood and his now uncovered face was ashen;

"Kiji-Taichou, please, if we leave now-"

"I'll still die, Yutsi; don't let your emotion get in the way… I don't know what your problem's been lately, but something's definitely wrong… promise me something… whatever it is – when you get back, _sort it out_." Atsuko merely nodded, as the life of her captain drained away; she remained in silence for a few minutes saying a silent prayer for him and composing her self, she lifted his corpse and sprinted off back in the direction of Konoha, ignoring her own wounds.

She'd run for what felt like a long time, although it was barely a few hours as her wounds were aching and the weight of Kiji-Taichou was slowing her down. Eventually forced to stop and rest, much to her frustration she had to keep herself conscious and not drift into sleep; as she was still more than two days from Konoha and the sharp ache in her ribs and shoulders was nearly unbearable. After barely an hours rest, she pressed on, she had to get back to Konoha as fast as possible – the simply wasn't the time or the resources for Konoha shinobi to be slow on missions. She couldn't help but sort of wish Kakashi was there to help her on the way back.

Allowing the pain simply to wash over her and not allow it to slow her down, she just kept on running, focusing only on the right direction and keeping her balance, she sped on, surprised a little that she recognized the section of forest so well, signaling she was barely more than a hour or so from Konoha. She was reaching her limit and wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep – allowing her to forget all of the awkward, stressful and bad things that had happening recently. There were few things she disliked more than unnecessary stress, especially when it involved other people. Eventually she landed in front of the gates, collapsing as she did so, she heard shouts of the guards, but before she could find the strength to look up or even speak, she fell into unconsciousness.


	15. Tsunade

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [15] : Tsunade :_

* * *

><p>Maybe he was being silly.<p>

Maybe his dislike of Daisuke was based purely on the testosterone circulating his system by spending time with a beautiful woman; maybe he didn't really _like_ her as much as he thought… after all, how can you start to like someone so much after only a few short months and even then seeing her very sporadically? Kakashi sped through the trees after returning from a mission to escort one of the feudal lord's subjects back from Konoha to their own village. His head still swirling uncontrollably with thoughts if Atsuko, and how they'd left things after their last meeting.

She seemed to disappear off the face of the planet until Asuma told him that she'd left on a week or so long mission; he could feel the frustration at again having such a long time apart whenever something happened that made his feelings a little clearer; this time she's conveniently no where in sight. Maybe she didn't like him like that, and she was happy just to have a new friend – especially one she'd lost many years ago; he had no idea.

Maybe he was just being silly in that he couldn't help his distrust of Daisuke and felt a strong urge to keep him away from her.

He had no idea when he'd started to like her, maybe it was when she had to look after him after their first spar and the cool revere she seemed to wander around in kept him from feeling uncomfortable at barging in to her home? Maybe it was when she fetched his book easily and even began to read them herself, talking about them as though she was a book reviewer but with an undertone of mischievousness indicating she knew _exactly_ what they were about. Maybe it was when she allowed the undertone of frivolity to show through that she usually kept well in check and seemed so relaxed. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't help but act _nothing_ like himself when he was with her, that somehow she'd made him forget that he was a shinobi of Konoha and that he was supposed to keep his emotions in check – something near impossible when she was sat right next to him; as though he just had to show her some emotion.

Maybe he really was just being silly.

He definitely felt _physical_ desire, he wasn't going to pretend that that side of him didn't exist, he knew exactly what he wanted; maybe that really was the extent of why he acted so oddly with her? And with Daisuke, that the bartend might steal his prize? He shook his head, not wanting to think of Atsuko like that. He also knew it wasn't true, he _knew_ that there were times when he was very content just to be sat next to her in the bar opposite Asuma and Kurenai. To have her – someone to drink with whose first allegiance wasn't to their partner – sat there talking and joking with him. He liked her amiable company and the ease with which they could talk about random stuff, even just to be sat on her sofa drinking tea with no expectations from either of them. He always like the option of staying with her a little longer in going back to hers to going back to his – not that he did so just for something to happen, but he liked her presence even if it meant his own place seemed a little more empty afterwards.

He also liked the fact he didn't feel Asuma's eyes on him, asking him silent questions of _what are you doing? Will you _ever_ get your act together and do something before that bar tender gets there first?_ He just liked the feeling of her being by his side, she always seemed so slight and fragile compared to him, he knew that she could more than easily look after herself, but it felt like something instinctive to have her right next to him… if anything happened, he'd be there to make sure nothing happened directly to her. It somehow didn't feel right for her to be so far away… _or_ with someone else.

Yes, he was definitely being silly.

He _really_ liked Atsuko and this was something his emotions were telling him, _not_ just what was between his legs or his hormones making him think it. Not to mention that he didn't want to entertain the thought of her leaving his life so abruptly as she had done the last time. This wasn't like him at all, he wasn't usually one err over things, and _this should be no different_ he thought,_ I have to talk to her properly when she gets back; I cannot leave this open ended or let her think I'm only after one thing._ He tried to ignore the questions the other half of himself kept asking, _what if she doesn't like you? What if you scare her into not wanting to even be friends with you? You could screw everything up with that small, simple sentence._

Eventually he reached the gates of Konoha, and headed straight to the Hokage's office, Tsunade having returned half a day before he set off. He approached her office and could hear Tsunade's voice from just outside, he waited patiently for whoever was in there to leave; he felt a little fatigued but nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't cure. He couldn't really be bothered to wait, but he knew he had to, his thoughts interrupted by Tsunade's voice,

"Good work, and congratulations, Yutsi-Taichou, I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," But it was Atsuko's voice that answered, cold and emotionless, as the door opened and she set eyes on him, she made no change in her expression to show that she'd acknowledged him; she was dressed her more typical shinobi attire of her fitted shirt, baggy but close trousers and bandages around shins, and forearms where the rolled up sleeves would have exposed the skin. Setting eyes on her so suddenly and with such a statement he'd heard from Tsunade he didn't know what emotion to express – it occurred to him that the only one he'd shown was one of slight surprise.

After she was out of sight, he knocked on the door and entered after the Hokage's answer,

"My mission was a success and nothing much to report; I ran into very little trouble, only the usual signs of thieves and opportunists, but they posed no threat whatsoever." He forced his voice to its usual bored demeanor.

"Excellent work, Kakashi, well done; there aren't any more missions for a now, so take a rest and keep a close eye on those genin of yours, Sasuke will no doubt be up, around and in a bad mood soon," Kakashi forced a small smile at her joke, thanking her once more and leaving. He was desperate to rush off to find Atsuko, but knew that it would be better to get some sleep and clear his head – this was definitely something he shouldn't rush into. _Even thought I sort of already had_ he grimaced to himself, he returned back to his apartment, trying to avoid looking at the spot where he and Atsuko shared a kiss.

Where they shared a _really good_ kiss.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Atsuko slammed the door of her apartment, running a hand through her messy and now rather knotted hair she sighed feeling now _much_ more stressed having bumped into Kakashi when she least expected it, and the fact that she couldn't keep her heart steady then. Deciding a shower and a rest would help clear her head. She pulled off her belt and shuriken pouches and flung it over the back of her sofa, she pulled off her headband sighing again, and making her way to the shower. She was awoken some hours later, by a sharp knock at the door,

"Go… away…" she muttered to herself, not ready to get up for face whoever it was at the door; but they kept knocking and eventually she had to drag herself out of bed,

"What?" she asked a little angrily yanking the door open to reveal Kurenai,

"Uh… not too busy are you?"

"No," she sighed again, "sorry, I'm just tired… what can I do for you?"

"Do you want to go out for a drink? I haven't seen you for a while… Asuma will come and Kakashi's around,"

"Uhh… I dunno… wouldn't Kakashi have a mission in the morning?" Kurenai shook her head, no he's needed around to keep an eye on his genin as Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, Sakura-Chan and Shikamaru-kun have returned… why are you concerned about what Kakashi's up to? Did something happen?" Atsuko rolled her eyes at Kurenai's intuition,

"When would you like to go?"

"Now… well, in a minute or two," Kurenai took a step forward and she allowed her to walk in, Atsuko fetched a brush and combed her long bangs back under control and re-circled her eyes with eyeliner. Feeling uncomfortable,

"Atsuko… you didn't answer my question; did something happen with Kakashi?" Atsuko held her breath a little, half wanting Kurenai's opinion about what she should do and half frightened about what Kurenai might suggest.

"Well?"

"H-he… we kissed," she stated not looking at Kurenai,

"I knew it!"

"'Knew' what?"

"That he likes you!"

"Kurenai! H-he was annoyed at me… so…"

"Explain the situation from the beginning."

"We were sparring the morning after we all when to the bar the last time and we finished at lunch time, so we got some ramen at Ichiraku's but Daisuke appeared so they got all uptight," she paused to roll her eyes, "so then I came back to his and we had some tea… then he asked my about Daisuke… and we then just… _kissed…_ before Asuma interrupted us…" she explained the last bit under her breath, "I guess he was just annoyed about Daisuke,"

"And _why_ would he be annoyed about Daisuke?"

"Because he must think that I'd rather sacrifice _his_ friendship for Daisuke's… which I wouldn't," Kurenai let out a breath of annoyance as she rested her forehead on her hand,

"Atsuko, why would someone who _just_ wants friendship kiss you? Wait, Asuma interrupted you?"

"No, nothing at all… but it's so difficult now… I… lost Kiji-Taichou on this last mission… and… I- I'm scared to get too close to anyone… I've lost people before… did I ever tell you about how close I used to be to Kakashi? When we were children?" Kurenai shook her head looking at her with a mix of concern and interest, "When I was very young, my mother Eiko was teammates with Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo so I used to always stay will Kakashi when our parents were on a mission… Sakumo-san was the closest thing I had to a father and if either one of our parent's was on a mission alone, then I always stay there or Kakashi would stay with us.

"But … when I was nearly five Sakumo-san and my mother went of a mission, and Kakashi and I were at his house waiting for them to return, but… Sakumo-san only returned with my mother's corpse and I … I blamed him, I blamed Sakumo-san for letting my mother die and that was nearly the last time that I saw him and Kakashi… only learned when I met Kakashi by chance after a battle during the third great ninja wars and he told me that his father was then dead… I don't want to get too close to anyone… to close to Kakashi and then loose him again… or you or Asuma!"

"Atsuko… I had no idea that you knew him so well then and I'm _so_ sorry that you had to deal with so much, so young, but don't let yourself avoid getting close to people because you're scared of what _might_ happen! It's obvious that Kakashi likes you, as in he _likes_ likes you, how can you waste an opportunity to gain a closeness with someone that you lost years ago?" Kurenai reasoned with her, as Atsuko rolled her eyes trying to fight the memories which flooded back,

"Ok, I think I really _do_ want, hell, _need_ a drink now, can we go and preferably get drunk?" Kurenai looked rather concerned at her friend but nodded, sensing that it would be a bad idea to push the conversation,

"Sure, I'll send a kage bunshin and have Asuma meet us at the bar… I'll also get Kakashi… I won't let you avoid him just because you're scared." Kurenai looked clearly at Atsuko as she accepted defeat,

"Fine, but lets just go," she strapped her belt, without the pouches back to on to her hips and threw her cloak around her shoulders as she dragged a mask over her head, and her haite-ate and fixed the cloth mask securely over her nose and chin as she was out of the door before Kurenai had even taken a step.

"H-Hey, wait!" Kurenai quickly created a kage bunshin and sent it off to find Asuma before she could rush off to catch up to Atsuko, closing the door behind her.


	16. A Little Cold

Again a little bad language in this one...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [16] : A Little Cold :_

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><p>Atsuko opened the door and walked immediately over to the bar ordering a bottle of sake, glad that this happened to be Daisuke's night off, she turned back out to look for a free table as Kurenai fell into line next to her.<p>

"They're over there," Atsuko followed her friend's nod with her eyes, and spotted Kakashi sat with what looked like crossed legs and an arm hanging over the back of the chair next to him with his back to her, and Asuma leaning his forearms on the table sat opposite Kakashi. Atsuko took a deep breath as Kurenai too a step forward over to the table, as Atsuko followed trying to keep her heart and breath even. Kurenai _of course_ took the available seat next to Asuma, who sat up the second he noticed Kurenai walking towards them;

"Hey," he spoke smoothly, but Atsuko's eyes were focused on Kakashi, who quickly removed his arm from the top of the chair and uncrossed his legs, turning to look at Atsuko who took a timid seat on the chair. It took her a moment to realize that she'd forgotten to pick up any cups,

"Shit, I'd better get-" she was cut off by a gloved hand appearing and placing a cup on the table in front of her,

"I'd already got a bottle of sake ready, but I guess that one solves the problem of who gets the next round," Kakashi's voice held an air of amusement as she could feel his eye on her, but there was an undertone to his voice that told her he wasn't completely comfortable.

"Uh, thanks," she responded as he poured her a cup full of sake from the bottle he'd already bought, she looked up at Asuma and Kurenai to cheers them as she caught them exchanging a slightly worried but telling looks.

"Please," she responded, "can we just drink and forget all of the shit that's happened lately,"

"Oh yea… I… well, I couldn't help but… err, overhear the conversation between you and Tsunade-sama… what did she mean by Atsuko-Taichou?" Kakashi whispered slightly into her ear, respectfully not really allowing the other two to hear, Atsuko turned her head slightly, but did not allow her eyes to meet his,

"I… Kiji-Taichou was killed on the last mission and Tsunade-sama informed me that I was to take his place." She spoke quietly and tried not to let any of her insecurities, uncertainly or nervousness creep into her voice, as she just stared at her cup.

"Shit… I'm so sorry Atsuko, I worked with Kiji-san when I was still in ANBU, he was a good man, and a very skilled shinobi. Perhaps, to turn sadness into something good," he paused to pour himself a cup of sake and hold it up, "congratulations on becoming a Taichou," he said, as she eventually look him in the eye and touched her cup to his in a light cheers.

"Why are you-Izumo? Anko? Iruka?" Asuma began,

"Why are we Izumo, Anko, Iruka?" Atsuko asked back, looking at Kakashi allowing herself to be distracted by the odd sentence he'd just come out with,

"Yo!" Anko's voice tore Atsuko's eyes from Kakashi's as the three shinobi stood around the edge of the table, "Mind if we join in?"

"Not at all," Kurenai spoke first, dragging a chair a little nearer, which Anko immediately took and asked Iruka to get her a drink while whispering something in his ear, Izumo also wandered off, presumably to get a drink or a seat. He returned with both; pulling a stool up nearest Atsuko, who shifted her chair a little closer to Kakashi to give Izumo enough space, Kakashi too shifted his chair a little closer to the wall he was sat next to, and tilted his body so that he was facing the centre of the group as he re-crossed his legs.

"Hi, my name's Izumo, although I don't know yours but I recognize you as the woman who collapsed carrying Kiji-san's corpse at the main gates," it struck Atsuko that he wasn't the most sensitive of people,

"Uh, yea, that was my captain, I'm Atsuko," she smiled politely although it was rather false, he didn't seem to notice; Atsuko looked at her cup seeing that it was _again_ empty, she looked over at Kakashi's cup too,

"Another?" she looked over to him, as his eye closed in what she now recognized was a smile,

"Please," he pushed his cup towards her, as she poured him out one,

"Anyone else?" she asked around the table, and received only shakes of the head signifying no from all except Asuma, as she poured a cup for him.

"Have you recently moved to the village? How come I don't recognize you?" Izumo asked Atsuko as she re-set the bottle of sake on the table,

"Kiji-san had been my Taichou for some years, and I'm with ANBU, so he will most likely have dealt with all our comings and goings," she responded nonchalantly, "But no, I've lived in Konoha all my life,"

"Really? Well, I can't believe that I've never managed to set eyes on you before… I take it you know these guys pretty well," he motioned to Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi, as Atsuko nodded signifying an affirmative.

It had been a nice evening, with Anko, Iruka and Izumo who lightened the mood and the tension between Kakashi and herself, she'd had more than a few cups of sake, but made a point of not getting drunk. She hadn't spoken too much to Kakashi who seemed to be lost in his thoughts keeping his typically aloof demeanor kept on securely; the three who turned up late were getting quite tipsy and Asuma and Kurenai had their own conversation while shooting both her and Kakashi the occasional furtive looks.

"Atsi!" (As Anko had taken to calling Atsuko for the time being.) "Atsi, where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you for ages!" Atsuko merely shrugged her shoulders,

"Sorry there's been a lot on, missions, the Chuunin exams, ya know," she responded, keeping her voice light and seemingly unburdened.

"Yea, yea, _sure_, as I hear it you've found more than enough time for these three," she joked, and Atsuko had to force her mind to not think of what happened last time she was at the bar with '_these three_' and merely shrug her shoulders. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, she stood,

"Sorry guys, but I think I might have a mission or something in the morning so I should head off," she picked up her cloak, waving goodbye to everybody she stepped out into the cool air. Turning in a direction opposite to her home, she headed for the training grounds, the night was exceptionally clear and felt that some star gazing would help her feel a little calmer. Flinging her cloak around her shoulders and pulling her mask up, she wandered off slowly while lost in her thoughts wondering how she would ever face Kakashi when they were alone; no sooner had the thought crossed her mind, she felt a presence.

"Off for a midnight stroll?" A lazy voice and its owner appeared next to her, _Kakashi_,

"Yea… hey, what are you doing here?" she still couldn't bring herself to look at him,

"Asuma _suggested_ that I should walk you home," she allowed a small breath of laughter to escape,

"You know that you don't have to, right?" Atsuko still couldn't really bring herself to look him properly in the eye, Kurenai's words were still circling around her head, but it was impossible that Kakashi really felt much for her; it was _impossible_ - why would he?

She suddenly didn't feel much like a stroll anymore _maybe I should just head home now – make some excuse and get out of here… Damn I feel so uncomfortable,_

"Uhh, I'm feeling a little cold, I might just head back to mine, actually, sorry… I'll see you around, ok?" she brought a hand up to her chest, preparing simply to 'poof' but Kakashi grabbed her wrist before she could escape,

"Whoa, you shouldn't be using any chakra yet, especially if you're feeling cold on this night, _and_ with a cloak on means your body is still recovering," He released his steady but gentle grip on her thin wrist, "Don't worry, I'm happy to walk you home," He leaned down so that he was right in her eyeline, with his eye closed but in a slight curve signifying he was smiling. Atsuko was _very_ grateful for her mask so that he couldn't see her blush at their closeness.

"Uh, no, don't worry about it, my body feels fine I guess I just need some more sleep, thanks though, bye." He wasn't going to stop her this time, as she darted off before he could even open his eye from his blink. He sighed a little looking at the spot, hoping she was only acting so oddly because she wasn't up to full strength; sighed for again in almost as many seconds before he turned and headed towards his own home not feeling quite right without Atsuko by his side as they'd usually head back for tea.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Atsuko appeared outside the apartment building trying to steady her breathing from being alone with Kakashi and having his face suddenly so close to hers. She leapt up onto the roof of the building to look at the stars, hoping it would calm her a little as she really didn't want to go inside just yet. She rested her head on her hands as she laid back, now feeling just as nervous as she had done when she set eyes on him outside the Hokage's office; it was cold out, but she didn't care too much, it felt good to have her body temperature so low.

Atsuko's eyelids were feeling heavy and she struggled to keep them open or to force herself up and go back inside, eventually she did so and jumped off the side of the roof aiming to grip onto the side of the roof and land gracefully in front of the door. However it didn't quite go to plan, her body was so numb from the cold that she misjudged the gap between herself and the roof, missing the ledge she managed to gain a deep gash from the angle of her lower forearm – drawing blood a lot in the process – and landed awkwardly on her hip on the hard ground.

Feeling very frustrated at herself, she managed to get inside before she couldn't help but slam the gash on her arm into the door frame, splattering a little blood onto the walls nearby which she took no notice of, only relishing the momentary pain she felt she deserved. She ripped off her cloak, and walked into her bathroom ignoring the stabbing pain in her hip – and now her ribs – washing away the excess blood and pressing some tissue to it to stem the blood flow; eventually it stopped and all she could be bothered with was collapsing on her bed, feeling terrible.

She awoke some hours later initially feeling alright and mentally a lot better, but it wasn't until she attempted to get up that she felt a shooting pain in her artificial ribs and the hip below it, but that she also felt the horrible dull ache in her lower right arm. It took a long time to work the tissue free from the scab that had formed surrounding it in the cut, it was rather grim, but she didn't care that much, _this is the price I pay for getting too close to people_. Eventually she managed to get dressed, leaving the cut exposed for now, knowing that she'd put on the bandages which usually covered her forearms on before she left the house. She sat sipping a little tea thinking of her plan for the day, first she'd go and see Tsunade-sama to find out if she had any upcoming missions, and depending on what the Hokage said, she spend the rest of the day (assuming it was free) training in a very secluded spot a little way out of Konoha, on the far side of the village to the training grounds.

As Atsuko entered the Hokage's building along with her shuriken and kunai pouches and other general shinobi weapons, she realized that steps really _weren't_ helping her hip or ribs much and although she forced herself to keep moving and look like nothing was wrong, it sure was going to be a strain later on. After more time than it should have taken, she knocked on the Hokage's door,

"Enter,"

"Tsunade-sama," she greeted politely,

"Ah, Atsuko, have you come to see me about any missions?"

"Yes, and I also have a question about my having become captain," Tsunade rested her chin on her hands showing she was listening as Atsuko continued, "Well, how its it to be decided if I take on any subordinates? Will there be a specific number or can I choose my subordinate?"

"Don't worry for now, that will be decided a little later, once you receive your next mission, which won't be for a few days, I'm concerned that you weren't quite up to full strength on your last mission and usually I couldn't allow you to take a break and rest, but luckily, you'll need to wait for most of the younger ANBU to return before you can take on any subordinates or complete any of the major missions, which are currently for standard two man cells. Most of the squads should be back before the middle of next week, so please be prepared."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama, thank you,"

"Dismissed." Atsuko disappeared in a puff of smoke appearing outside the building, feeling slightly irritated that she'd have to wait nearly a week (well, four days) for a mission… she wasn't much in the mood to spend all that much time in the village again, not to mention that she didn't really want to see a _certain male Jounin_ again, knowing that she shouldn't get too close – but no doubt she'd end up meeting him at some point.

Even if there was a small part of her that wanted to see him, that wanted to be close and laugh with him as easily as she had done before but it wasn't possible. That last time they're properly dealt with each other – discounting last night – they'd kissed _which don't help how I'm feeling about him at all_, Atsuko knew that it was stupid to allow herself too close to anybody. She could barely believe how much closer she managed to get to Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi in a few short months… it was all a little overwhelming when she used to be a good Kuniochi – she lived alone and didn't _need_ anybody else; she didn't have a lazy Jounin making her not really want to leave the village, or a regular nights out at the bar, drinking more than she should. _That's a shinobi, _she thought_, one who can live alone and doesn't need anybody else_. Her pace was steady through Konoha, as she took a winding route to where she was going to end up, eventually she arrived at her destination and began her long, and much more demanding than usual training session.


	17. It Doesn't Matter

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [17] : It Doesn't Matter :_

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><p>Atsuko paused for a moment catching her breath, her fatigue making her feel deeply frustrated that not only was she making mistakes and missing the occasional target, the resulting energy wastage making her tire very easily. Taking a moment, she got up again and attempted her Jutsu forming daggers of chakra, although she couldn't form the seals quick enough for her own expectations; allowing her mood to get the better of her, she attacked a tree supporting her targets, violently punching and kicking it in an attempt to rid herself of her frustrations. She could feel the wound on her forearm opening again and her knuckles were bleeding pretty badly too, the last of her effort leaving she swung a clumsy punch and scraped the back of her hand on the rough bark, nearly skinning her hand in the process. Allowing herself simply to fall back onto the grass not caring for the pain most of her limbs were feeling… <em>I just don't care anymore… what's the goddamn point anyway?<em>

Allowing her eyes to close, shutting out the tree which seemed to be taunting her, she took a few deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm herself. Unable to tell how long she'd lain there, it was a little darker signifying evening's approach, as she looked to her hand – the blood had dried into a crust which cracked along with a twinge of pain as she moved or her fingers it around, cursing only that she didn't have anything to cover it over with. The bandage covering her cut from the other day was almost completely soaked in blood, _time to head back before anyone spots this shit_ she though, hauling herself up and collecting all of the shuriken and kunai scattered around… her hip was feeling a little better although there was a bruise there, she eventually wandered off leaving the occasional spot of blood to mark her trail. She hadn't eaten for nearly two days meaning that she felt the blood loss much more keenly, eventually she made it back onto the familiar streets of Konoha and thought she was nearly home,

"_There_ you are! I've been looking for you for ages," Kakashi appeared in front of her with a smile which wasn't genuine, "Where've you been hiding?" he took a step closer, but she took a step back,

"Training, sorry but I can't talk long, I'm really hungry and tried," she stated, moving her hands as subtly behind her back out of view as she could,

"What happened to your arms? Why are they so bloody? You usually have barely a scratch after – has something happened?"

"No, I'm just a little tired," she lied preparing to run off, as Kakashi narrowed his eye in suspicion,

"Atsuko…"

"Kakashi, I'm fine alright? I just misjudged distances a little and scraped my hand," with that she took of not caring that to was a little rude, she flew into the trees aware that she was a little slow, proved by the fact Kakashi appeared in front of her resulting in her colliding with his chest as an arm snaked around her back, preventing her from running away again, she felt her heartbeat increase dramatically,

"Why won't you talk to me properly? All I seem to get at the moment is barely a few sentences before you run away, what the hell is going on?"

"I-Kakashi…" she was at a loss, she couldn't tell him the real reason – that she felt too much of an attachment and was scared of the consequences of loving someone… "I…I'm just frustrated… that I haven't had a mission in so long… that I feel like I'm just sat here being useless," she finished, it wasn't strictly a lie she _was_ frustrated at feeling so useless, but it also wasn't _quite_ the reason why she wouldn't face _Kakashi himself_.

She felt him place his chin on her head as she spoke haltingly and his other arm circled around her tightening his grip slightly, all she could do was stand there, trying to keep her arms out of view, nor contaminate any of his clean clothing,

"Atsuko, you are anything but useless," she felt his head right next to her own, his mouth barely a few centimeters from her ear, she felt like she couldn't breathe, inwardly rejecting the words he spoke,

"I'm worried about you, you were in such an odd mood last night, you disappeared today and now you look like you've been beaten up, talk to me, what happened to your arms?" he voice was very quiet and a little soothing, Atsuko tried to resist the urge to close her eyes, it occurred to her that if Kakashi wasn't holding on to her, she'd probably loose her balance. Moving a hand to grab onto his vest, she had to move her feet a little, she couldn't help leaning her head forward a little to rest it on his chest,

"Atsuko? Are you alright?" his voice seemed ever quieter as she sank into complete darkness.

Kakashi stood for a moment, with the limp body of friend in his arms, not quite sure what happened, he shifted a little managed to turn her a little so that he could sweep an arm under her knees and lit her off the ground completely. He managed to shift her right arm hanging loose onto her torso, he noticed just how red the bandage looked _shit_, he sprinted back to his own place as fast as he could. Having closed the door behind him, he laid her down on the sofa, fetching a towel to put under her wrists, he removed his gloves, zori and vest; having washed his hands he fetched a small medical kit _how does she managed to get so injured so often?_

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Atsuko slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight hurting a little she felt very weak and the aching in her body seemed much worse than usual. Noticing that she was on a sofa, it took her a little while to realize what had happened, _I was with Kakashi… then I don't remember_

"You're finally awake,"

"Huh?"

"You fainted on me last night, so I brought you back here and patched you up… you slept right through the night, it's nearly eleven," Kakashi crouched in front of her in his usual black top and trousers without his vest or headband, placing a hand on her forehead, "well you seem ok, are you hungry?" she nodded blankly in response, as he stood and walked away,

"Sorry, all I've got is some instant ramen at the moment, I was supposed to go shopping yesterday, but I guess I forgot." He wandered back over a little while later with a small bowl of ramen and some tea which he set on the small table in front of her,

"Here," he slipped an arm around her back and lifted her into a seated position, then handing her the bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Now noticing that her hands and right forearm had been re-bandaged she found eating extremely difficult, but managed it nonetheless, feeling much better having had something to eat.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Kakashi sat leaning forward with his elbows on his knees staring at her intently, Atsuko looked at him but quickly averted her gaze, staring at the floor, "Please?"

"I- I just got frustrated with my training yesterday and swung a mis-directed punch at a tree, I sort of missed and scraped my hand, that's all,"

"And your arm?"

"I fell off the roof,"

"What? Why were you a roof?"

"I couldn't sleep last night so I sat on the roof for a little looking at the stars, and I guess I stayed out a little too long, and my body went a bit numb from the cold, as I jumped down I mis-calculated the distance and caught my arm on the ledge instead of catching it with my hand," she explained, still not looking at him, although she could sense him staring at her.

"I don't know what's bothering you, or why you seem so jumbled up-" he surprised her a little at his perceptiveness,

"W-Why do you care so much, huh? I'm just some person you've known for only a few months," she didn't want to like feeling so close to him again,

"I care, because you're my friend and you mean a lot to me," he paused to get up and take a seat next to her, placing an arm around her back, "What ever the problem is then I'm here to help,"

"A-and if you can't help?"

"Then I'm here to have a drink with and forget the problem, if only for a little while," she could tell he was smiling under his mask, she mustered a weak smile back, feeling both nervous and in a jumble worried that they might actually loose a friendship because she was too scared to let him get close – and scared of being too close to anybody. _Christ, what the hell am I supposed to do?_ Ignoring her better judgment for a moment, she leaned her head onto his shoulder, as he pulled her closer towards his chest with a hand rubbing soothingly over her back.

"I'm sorry for all this, and thanks… for patching me up," she whispered unable to get her voice any louder,  
>"No problem at all… but I don't want to see you like this again, come to me first and next time, leave the trees out of it,"<p>

"Heh, I'll try," allowing a genuine smile to pass her lips for the first time in what felt like too long. Sitting up a little, and letting out a small 'mmh' as a sign of how comfortable she was, she managed to turn to look at him,  
>"I really should head back to mine, I need to rest for a mission in a few days and try and get some training in," she tried to get up, but her arms didn't have quite the strength in them, and her ribs <em>did not<em> like a certain angle required for getting up,

"Here," Kakashi gripped the far side of her waist and lifted her cleanly to her feet, "Promise me you won't push yourself too hard, in this state you'll only make things worse; I've got a mission tomorrow so I won't be around for a while but I expect to see you in good health by the time I get back," he sounded more like a mother hen rather than a concerned friend,

"I know, and I won't don't worry," she rolled her eyes her amusement clear as she scratched her forehead, "Hey have you seen my-" Kakashi cut her off by holding her Haite-ate in his hand, "Oh thanks."

Managed to collect all of the items she had on her when she collapsed, she opened the door and looked back at Kakashi once more with a light smile, who looked as relaxed as ever,

"See ya, hope the mission goes well," As soon as the last words had left her mouth, she turned and was gone, as Kakashi let out a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding.


	18. Atsuko Taichou

Again a little bad language in this one...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [18] : Atsuko Taichou :_

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><p>Atsuko made her way to the ANBU meeting room, her head perfectly clear and her body (although aching a little) ignored it and she was itching to begin the mission, she was glad that it was at least a week long, even though the scroll allotted two and a half weeks. Stood in the room as she walk in, kitted in her full ANBU gear and mask, was what looked like a young man with, well, odd hair to say the least, it was lightish brown with one half was dead straight down to mid neck length, and the other was spiky and short.<p>

"Name?"

"Tsugichi," he replied, he sounded very young, he couldn't have been out of his teens, _what an interesting name, _she thought, _oh well, I suppose it fits his odd hair_ she thought,

"Good, I am Yutsi-Taichou; I expect _brilliance_ from you and that doesn't mean 'good', it doesn't mean 'very good' and it doesn't mean 'great'. It means that you should be able to kick the shit out of whatever arrogant bastard you come across who calls themselves 'the best'. You understand me?" she asked, her voice and demeanor rather odd for her, she sounded extremely bored and stood with the weight on one leg and a hand on her hip,

"No problem, Yutsi-Taichou, I won't fail you,"

"Don't start that shit; if you fail, then you'll die. Now we should spar but frankly, I can't be bothered, I know your Jutsus, so just try to hit only the enemy."

"Hai, Taichou,"

"Right, that's enough talk, here's a scroll of our mission," she chucked it to him, "read it carefully and leave the scroll behind, you have an hour to collect any extra items you feel that you'd require for this mission and meet me just outside the south-east gate. Dismissed." Tsugichi disappeared in a small puff of smoke, Atsuko wandered out of the building and slowly walked towards the gate, taking a winding route.

Along her way, her thoughts again turned to her _minds_ favourite topic to think about, but not necessarily hers: Kakashi. She tried to focus only on the sound of her footfalls, but she couldn't help thoughts of him, _what was he doing right now? How is his mission going? _Atsuko tried to shake the thoughts off. A part of her wanted to see him again, but another knew that she _couldn't afford_ to get too close to him; she didn't really like having to pull away from his warm presence, and comforting words or that smile. Yes, she really liked him and, the thought occurred to her that she could afford to still be good friends with him, _if_ she kept her emotions under strict lock and key; if she could force them right into a small corner of her mind and _not_ let them interfere with their friendship… Then everything would be fine. With that small but encouraging thought she allowed the smallest smile to barely grace her lips, even if she weren't wearing two masks, it would be a challenge to spot… maybe then she could successfully read the book he'd lent her which she'd forgotten about until she picked up a pouch she usually reserved for missions earlier.

Eventually she appeared outside the gates and waited patiently for Tsugichi; he wasn't late, she just liked to be early.

"Uh-Yutsi-Taichou, I'm sorry I'm late – uh,"

"You're not, no sweat,"

"Cool," he responded, looking a little brighter, as they both leaped away towards their destination, still well within the Fire Country to locate and take out a known enemy of one of the Lords. The journey getting there wasn't too bad albeit long, it gave her a chance to read _Icha Icha Paradise_ and get a decent way through before she had to put it down, as they were closing on somewhere decent to rest for a while, having run through most of the previous night. As they paused, she noticed that Tsugichi still looked a little tense,

"What's wrong? Nervous?"

"Nah… just feels odd to be so far from Konoha on only a two man mission," he sighed dropping himself onto the ground, "Damn, is there nothing more comfortable to sleep on?" Atsuko shook her head,

"Sorry, Kouhai, but these missions mean roughing it," He clicked his tongue in disgust,

"Damn… I should have just stayed as a normal Jounin…"

"Heh, it's not so bad once you're used to it," she heard him grumble in dissatisfaction again before lying down, "I guess I'll take first watch," she essentially only spoke to herself as Tsugichi was already asleep. She opened the book, forcing her mind _off_ the subject she most associated with it, as the morning light was just enough to read by.

It wasn't long before they set off again after Atsuko had got some rest too… they chatted lightly every now and then but otherwise remained in silence, with hidden chakra and light feet. Atsuko was on edge but tinged with excitement, as always just before engaging the enemy; despite her nature killing was a thrill difficult to resist.

"Tsugichi, what do you sense?" he paused for a moment,

"Uh… I don't sense any malevolent chakra, in fact rather a distinct lack of it," he turned his head towards her,

"Good, that's a sign, we know he's in the area, so he must be working hard to keep himself hidden, I'll scope the area, and find where's best to take him on, while you set about locating the target,"

"Hai, Taichou," They darted off, maintaining their lowered chakra signatures ever since they were more than a day from their destination. Silently, Atsuko scoped the area; the village was small and seemed rather like Konoha, her thoughts instantly being distracted to her village and her _friends_.

Eventually she found somewhere satisfactory where she was sure that no one would get caught in the cross fire as it were, while they fought. Atsuko planned to try and finish him short and sweet, a plan forming in her head, she tried to find Tsugichi; which she did after a short time, and was pleased to see that he'd also found the target, posing as a beggar,

"Tsugichi, I want you to go in first and create an opening for me, then I'll finish him off with my, well, 'last resort' Jutsu,"

"Hai," She allowed her chakra to suddenly raise to her usual levels, while making sure that she could be seen, however, it didn't quite go to plan,

"Are you looking for me?" A voice seemed to whisper in her ear, tensing, she sprung away, and faced the criminal, who had something of a silly and relaxed grin on his face. Atsuko shot a look at Tsugichi, and she prepared to leap away from the village, but he was fast,

"My, my running away already?" he appeared in front of her, both surprising her but allowing an opening Tsugichi tried to take advantage of but sending in some kunai. This nin was highly skilled and Tsugichi's attack didn't faze him at all, Atsuko darted back and began to perform some hand seals, glad that she wasn't fighting a Sharingan user. The seals seemed to do nothing, at first, and she toyed with him a little, throwing a few shuriken, controlled by hidden tiny chakra strings allowing them to miss while Tsugichi was no where in sight. She then focused the chakra to her hands, which quickly became engulfed in white electricity like chakra; although she couldn't see him, she was able to verify his coordinates and send a large number of chakra lighting bolts, towards him in a number of different directions each with their own minute chakra thread.

After the dust cleared, the smarmy bastard was still stood there, stupid grin and all, Atsuko expected this result – but was hoping for a nice surprise. She darted away, she needed to let Tsugichi know what she needed him to do, but before she could get there he rushed straight in and fought head on with the nin, Atsuko wanted to shout out, but before she could, he appeared next to her,

"Hey, what's the new plan?" he whispered, _not too shabby_ she thought,

"I think it's best if we reverse the plan, you cover me but try to help me create an opening," she finished just as the clone was as well, "just stay low for now and find his weaknesses, and no stupidity" she darted off, thinking about how he'd fought the clone, his left arm never seemed to move, which mean either he couldn't, or it was reserved for some special Jutsu. She'd have to be careful and keep a close eye for which of the reasons it was. She aimed a punch, followed swiftly by a sharp kick, ready to with some sebon needles clenched in her fist aiming a second; he blocked them all, although he was not looking quite as cool as his smile suggested earlier; she wasn't going to take any chances.

He seemed not to move although she could sense a Genjitsu being cast which she quickly dispelled, sending out tiny threads of chakra reconnecting with the tiny marks she left on her shuriken, and yanked back, leaving some where they were. He easily dodged them again, and one kunai grazed the windmill shuriken on his back, but deflected off; he formed an earth element Jutsu, forming great arms and hands of rock, trying to encircle her, she just managed to dodge but with gash to her calf;

"Tsugichi!" she called out to him, hoping he'd distract the enemy long enough to form her hand seals, as he jumped in and engaged the enemy, Atsuko focused her mind and her chakra, creating a sudden blade of wind which seemed to dissipate almost as quickly. She shot out a few chakra threads to Tsugichi, who was in the way of her attack as the blade of wind reappeared, attracted to the spot of her chakra left by the deflected kunai. It spun towards, him and shaved off a few layers of skin over his left shoulder blade, but otherwise did less damage than she would have liked. She had very little chakra left, definitely not enough to perform her ultimate Jutsu.

He laughed a little,

"Is that the best you can do? Haha, so Konoha only sent children after me, eh?" She could feel Tsugichi tense next to her, he began to perform some hand seals, as two kage-Bunshins appeared and ran of 45 degrees to him, he began to perform more sets of hand seals, as were his clones, Atsuko dived in, and again attacked the enemy in taijutsu, which kept him busy enough with he left arm now almost completely out of action, but his right held sebon needles, no doubt poisoned. He managed to gash her quite a few times on her arms and on her neck,

"Taichou, out of the way!" Tsugichi screamed at her, as she could see a triangle of pure fire held at each point by her subordinate and his clones and was closing fast,

"Not yet," she knew if she jumped out of the way, he'd escape too; but Tsugichi had other ideas, one of his clones between himself and the line at the back of the enemy, closed it in at lightening speed, catching him on the back and burning through as though he were made of paper. Atsuko got one final smashing kick to his ribs which buckled under the pressure, and leaped up as her Kohai closed the net, disintegrating their enemy with frightening speed. Atsuko collapsed to the ground, panting heavily her chakra heavily depleted and the poison getting to her.

"Didn't… think my… Jutsu was… that… amazing," he joked while walking over to Atsuko cancelling the Jutsu and his clones,

"Don't… get… too cocky, Kouhai," she breathed, struggling to stay conscious,

"Ehehe, here, my father trained me in a few medial Jutsus and poison antidotes, I'll see what I can do." He placed his hands on her wounds and managed to both heal them and remove most of the poison as a familiar greenish chakra encircled her injuries, she instantly felt a lot better but was still too tired to move far.

"Stay here, I'll see what plants I can find," he wandered off, recognizing the 'symptoms' as it were of this poison, quite common for missing nins, easy to make and very effective. He returned a few minutes later with a handful he ground down, and added to a little water, "drink this, quickly," she did as ordered despite its foul taste; she was about to thank him, but slipped into unconsciousness before she could do anything else.

She awoke some hours later, not where she fell asleep,

"W-What?" she spoke feeling groggy but much better than when she fell asleep, "Where are we?" she looked over at Tsugichi who immediately stood and walked over to her,

"We're about a day or so closer to Konoha… I thought it best to leave the scene as quickly as possible and wasn't too drained of chakra as you did most of the work, not to mention that you're not particularly heavy, eheheh," he scratched the back of his head a little in embarrassment,

"Well done, Tsugichi, you did the right thing," she moved to sit up, with a little help from her subordinate, "And thank you for saving my life, twice… that was a solid Jutsu by the way, I'm impressed, I was looking forward to seeing that one in practice," he grinned in response, his mask off; although it shouldn't have been, she wasn't going to reprimand him this time.

"Feeling any better?"

"Much, thank you! Are you ready to leave? Or would you like to get some rest first?" he shook his head,

"I'd just like to get back home, to be honest," he grinned, Atsuko nodded in response rising to her feet,

"Let's get going then, I'm eager to get back as well, I must admit. Excellent work, Tsugichi-Kohai; that was an excellent first mission." She stretched a little and shot off, almost without him.


	19. Plan Into Action

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [19] : Plan Into Action :_

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><p>Atsuko definitely liked Tsugichi, he really was a character despite his outwardly shy demeanor, once they got to know each other a little and how each other worked he relaxed a lot. After her first mission without Kiji-Taichou and she really missed him, but Tsugichi's humour, good nature and excellent skills was a good enough reflection of him that she was pleased he'd been chosen as her subordinate. They were close to Konoha after nearly a week and a half away on their mission, winter was closing and the air was extremely chilly with a pure white sky; for these reasons and a few more, Atsuko was in high spirits – although she'd never show it. Eventually the trees became ever more familiar and the outline of the Hokage Mountain appeared in their view,<p>

"Ahh I'm so happy to be back in Konoha!" Tsugichi sighed in content,

"Tsugichi, I'd think you'd been away for years from the way you talk!"

"It feels like it; this mission was so taxing… I can't wait for some of Nii-san's tempura!" Atsuko couldn't help but smile at him, he still seemed like such a _boy_.

"I hope that you get used to this quickly, that was an_ easy_ mission,"

"Easy!"

"I told you when we started exactly what I expect from you,"

"Yea, yea 'beat the shit out of the best' I know,"

"Haha, you make it sound like such a chore, Tsugichi," the young ANBU merely rolled his eyes, "Ya know, I find it odd that you're already in ANBU but are so jovial… it's good,"

"Yea, I only get serious when I have to," he responded as they both touched down in front of the gates, they walked slowly forward greeting Izumo and Koetsu,  
>"Morning Izumo-san, Koetsu-san," she spoke lightly, hiding the tone of her voice a little, "Yutsi-Taichou and Tsugichi-Kouhai;" Koetsu nodded as he noted their return,<p>

"Hokage-sama will be pleased of your success and early return," Atsuko nodded, and turned to Tsugichi,

"You can go home but have the mission report filed by three tomorrow, please, it needs to be done while it's fresh," the younger nodded and ran off. As Atsuko disappeared to report to the Hokage, after she'd set off to find a bento box then to write up her report.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

It took such a long time to finish her report that although it was late – nearing nine o'clock, but it was oddly light outside. _Snow! It's been snowing!_ Never had there ever been any doubt in Atsuko's mind that her favourite weather was the snow. She couldn't resist smiling, seeing that her report was finally finished (with one or two re-writes) and there would be plenty of time to check it over in the morning, she rushed out to go and walk in the snow. Although she was hungry – the bento box being all that she'd eaten in the past twenty four hours, her excitement at the snow overruled all other feelings. She rushed out, grabbing her cloak and flinging it around her shoulders as she rushed down the apartment block steps and out into the pure, crisp night. It was still snowing gently as she walked over the snow towards a secluded training area, where she hoped that the snow would be untouched. She walked slowly, savoring the moments of the crunch of the snow under foot, the stillness of the air, the serenity of the snow falling; Atsuko loved everything about the snow.

Eventually she got to where she was headed, and it was _perfect_, the silvered sky hung low, seemingly just enough to skim the trees and the purity of the snow covering the ground and trees gave an ethereal quality to the air. Everything felt fresh, pure and untouched; the sense of the air made her feel as though there was no one else or anything else in the world, with the exception of this moment. Taking a step onto the untouched snow, and it was deep, at least up to her ankle; she couldn't resist crouching to grab a small handful of the snow; staring at it as though she'd never seen it before in her life. She continued on wandering over the snow, unaware of her observer, who couldn't help but smile at her carefree actions. Eventually she paused, crouching sculpt something with the snow.

"I had no idea you loved snow so much," Atsuko whipped her head around to see who'd intruded on her peace,

"Oh, hello Daisuke, what are you doing here at this time?" She felt suddenly conscious that she'd been so distracted by the snow, she left her mask off;

"Well, I was on my way home from the bar and spotted you a little while back, you looked so happy at the snow… I… well, to be honest, I could resist watching you, haha," he smiled crouching down beside her,

"Ah, yea… I love the snow, to be honest it's my favourite weather, it just seems to make me very happy for some reason," she blushed a little at her ridiculous self,

"It is pretty," he remarked, "but so cold," he looked at her, in a thin shirt and trousers and her cloak – with little else to keep her warm, not to mention that the short hair at the back of her neck meant that she felt the cold more keenly.

"True, but the feeling of being in the snow outweighs it… well, for me at least," she rose to her feet, holding the cloak a little closer, Daisuke stood also,

"Maybe it's time we headed back,"

"Yea, ahh, I'm hungry,"

"Well, maybe it really _is_ time to head back, come on, I think Yakiniku Q's is still open," Atsuko nodded vigorously,

"Yea! That sounds really good," they both wandered off, Atsuko's eyes constantly flicking around, taking in all of the peace the empty, snow covered streets brought her. Eventually, the barbeque restaurant came into sight, Atsuko now feeling on the worse side of frozen, her nagging hunger even able to distract her from the beauty of the snow. As they wandered in, they instantly found a free table, Daisuke ordered for them both – a rather large amount.

"Uh, Daisuke, I don't have that much money on me, you shouldn't order too much,"

"No problem, it's my treat as a thank you,"

"For what?"

"Cheering me up; I was feeling a little down when I spotted you and you instantly cheered me up!" he stated with a big smile on his face, and Atsuko couldn't help but smile back at his high spirits.

"Well, I'll pay for what I can, but you'll have to cover most of it," Daisuke merely smiled as their order was brought to them and they both set about cooking their meal.

"So where've you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Uh, around really, I've just come back from a week and a half long mission with my subordinate, it's been pretty busy – well that's what it feels like, although I haven't done much!"

"Ahha, same here, really, I've been working a lot at the bar, feels like I never get a night off! But I like it, the works interesting,"

"Good," she flipped some of the meat on the barbeque; she took a little piece, seeing that it was done as Daisuke eyed her with interest, watching the strange way she was looking at the tiny bit of food before slowly chewing it. An easy smile was brought to his lips as her eyes lit up at the delicious taste, before snapping her chopsticks and aiming for another, bigger piece;

"Hey, wait!" Daisuke grabbed her wrist, "you can't eat it yet, it's not cooked!" he exclaimed, unable to hide his amusement at the fact she looked shocked, her eyes almost like dinner plates,

"S-so _hungry-heheee_!" she exclaimed, with an amused innocence, eventually breaking into a laughter and leaning over to rest her elbow on the side of the table, staring out of the window as her face fell as quickly as the now heavy snow, she could just about see out to the ground where all of the footprints had been covered over. _Why did she feel like a betrayer for being here with Daisuke, and having such a good time?_

"Yo, Atsuko!"

"Huh?" she snapped her gaze back to the man opposite,

"It's cooked, you can eat now," he smiled pointing at the barbeque,

"Oh, sorry," she smiled weakly back and began to gather a plateful, suddenly feeling less hungry, she ate slowly, pondering everything and nothing – unable to focus on a single thought shrouded by an indescribable emotion.

"Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Yea, just thinking about stuff really, my past mission and stuff… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I just got a bit lost in my thoughts for a moment; how is it? Is it good?" Daisuke nodded enthusiastically while a smile appeared on his face,

"It is, I love the beef they do here,"

"Yea, it is good… I really should come here more often; I keep forgetting how good it is!" Daisuke shook his head slightly in a comically disappointed fashion,

"Atsuko… how could you?" Atsuko kept her face straight, suddenly not feeling much at all, although she flashed a small, fake smile to tell him she was playing the game as she stared a little blankly at him;

"Maybe I'm just that bad…" Daisuke held an odd smile,

"Nah, I don't believe that… you ain't go a bad bone in you,"

"How can someone with 'not a bad bone in them' got out and kill?" _and hate and mistreat and fool those close to them?_ She continued in her head,

"You only kill the bad guys; that comes down to the reality of being a shinobi, right?" Atsuko resisted the temptation to narrow her eyes,

"What would a non-shinobi know about that?"

"Only that I've spoken to you enough times to know that you're not a cold, merciless killer; you kill the bad guys because you have to… That Atsuko playing in the snow was not thinking of who she was going to kill next,"

"You sound very certain of that," she forced a small, fake smile to reassure him and loosen the righteous tone he had; he smiled in return,

"Sorry, but working in a bar you learn to read body language pretty well… I didn't mean to tell you what you were thinking," Atsuko forced a broad but fake smile; he didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me, please but we are closing now, could you please finish up? Here is your bill," A staff member interrupted them placing a small tray and a piece of paper down on the table,

"Of course," Daisuke took the piece of paper and scratched around for some money; Atsuko flashed a hand into the pouch on her belt and placed a few notes on the table. She twitched her head for a moment, thinking she detected an unfamiliar chakra signature,

"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked as the waiter left with some notes of money, Atsuko's left behind on the table, he rose to his feet pushing the money back to her,

"Here, you can get the next one," Atsuko nodded, reclaiming her money and standing she walked out of the restaurant flashing her cloak around her shoulders; the chakra signature barely registered, but it returned just as before,

"Thank you, Daisuke, I really appreciate dinner and the chat, but I really need to go, I've got a report due tomorrow and I daren't sleep in and not have enough time to finish it," she turned to face him, the heavy snow nearly blinding her,

"Oh, do you want me to walk you back?" Atsuko shook her head,

"I was going to take the quick way," she raised her hand to her chest in the forming a seal,

"Oh,"

"Good night Daisuke, take care in the snow," the last of her voice reverberated around him as she disappeared before he could say what he wanted to.


	20. Sorry About This

Again a little bad language in this one...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [20] : Sorry About This :_

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><p>Atsuko appeared inside her apartment feeling deeply concerned at the chakra signature that she felt, wondering what on earth it could mean, was there a 'guest' in Konoha? <em>Couldn't be, I could barely feel the signature, and if there was someone new in the village, they'd be tailed… I wonder what Kakashi would make of this?<em> Atsuko sighed in frustration, throwing herself down on the sofa, not even bothering to take off her snowy cloak. She sat there for quite a while, eventually she got up to try and turn on the light but it wouldn't work as she removed a hand from inside the folds of her cloak, she realized how cold it was inside her apartment, she walked into the kitchen that light didn't work either _what the hell?_ She tried every light in her apartment to no avail, the temperature was radically dropping too, her nose and eyes were beginning to sting from the cold and her breath was condensing in the air. _Fuck, has the power gone?_ She wondered, realizing that it must be the case, she walked over to her door, to check the corridor, the lights were out there too, and it was just as freezing as inside her apartment, she turned her head to go back inside but a voice called out,

"Hey, Atsuko," she turned to see a Kakashi in a rather sorry state, his hair was sodden meaning his quiff hung right down, coving the side of his head his typical outfit was glistening with still frozen snow flakes,

"What happened?" she asked feeling rather concerned,

"The powers gone in half of Konoha, and a family living near me asked me to help them find a house on the far side of Konoha, god damn its cold… can I come in?" He walked a little unevenly, clearly numb from the cold,

"Of course, quick… although it's not any warmer in here," she grumbled silently as he staggered past, into her apartment. She pulled the door shut behind her,

"Hold on, I'll get you a towel," she reappeared a few moments later, chucking one over his head, "how come you didn't have a cloak?"

"It got ripped to shreds on my last mission and I didn't have time to get a new one," he pulled the towel off his head and removed his headband before scrubbing his hair fiercely with the towel. When he lifted it, his hair looking much more like an afro, Atsuko had to bit her lip to prevent herself laughing,

"What's so funny?" Kakashi asked, unaware of what his hair had mutated into,

"Nothing… oh there's something I wanted to ask you," she suddenly remembered, "There was a chakra signature earlier when I was out that I didn't recognize; it was incredibly faint and was only around for a split second, but it was definitely there… are there any 'guests' in the village at the moment?"

Kakashi thought for a moment before answering, "Not that I know of, have you told Tsunade-sama? What time was it and where were you?"

"It must have been…somewhere between ten and ten thirty I think? I was at Yakiniku Q with Daisuke and it was just as we were paying, well as Daisuke paid, and again as we were just outside,"

"On a date?" Kakashi held a rather odd tone,

"Oh God no! I was just out, well, playing in the snow really and I happened to run into him, he's just finished work so he suggested going there… and as I only planed on being in the snow I didn't bring any money with me." Kakashi nodded, she noticed him shiver a little, "I've got a spare cloak, and although it won't fit too well, it might help a little," she offered and he nodded, as she walked away, Kakashi couldn't resist the question,

"Playing in the snow?"

"What? I love the snow and I end up a little kid again whenever it snows," she admitted, looked a little embarrassed as she returned with a cloak and paused just as she was about to fling it over Kakashi as he sat there, "Hey, if your clothes are wet, maybe its a good idea if you take them off or you'll only get colder,"

"I should, but I've nothing to change into," he unfolded his arms, to take the cloak off her, as his legs and hands were beginning to loose all feeling in them; the show on his shoulders had slowly melted, making his vest feel twice as heavy,

"Oh, yea…" she resisted a slight shiver at the cold, "well, as I'm sure I've got nothing that would fit you, you're welcome to get into my bed if you like as that's probably the warmest place," Kakashi thought for a moment, resisting the thought that he would have liked that to mean a little more than it did,

"What about you?"

"Ah, I'll be fine on the sofa-"

"No, you'll freeze to death!" He stood up, albeit a little shakily, taking the cloak she was holding and put it on the back of the sofa, "come on, I don't want to be responsible for your death by making you sleep on the sofa; it makes sense to share out body heat,"

"Uh," she wasn't sure what to do, in principle she didn't have a problem with the idea, but it wasn't going to help her at all in keeping a sense of detachment from him. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she turned and started walking towards her bedroom.

Kakashi, clearly not feeling in the slightest insecure peeled off his chuunin vest, headband and gloves, dumping them on the floor beside him before puling off his shirt to reveal a sleeveless vest attached to his mask, as she quickly got rid of his sodden trousers and zori in climbed in, taking about fifteen seconds all in all.

"Hurry up, it's cold," he groaned, pulling the covers up so that only his eye and a mop of hair was left visible; Atsuko turned around and shed her cloak, pulling off her own top to reveal a smallish tank top, she sat on the edge of the bed as she pulled off her trousers and swapped them for a pair of baggy shorts, she quickly ducked under the covers. She lay there on her side for a few moments shivering violently from the cold, but soon felt a hand on her back and its owner pulling her close under his chin, she allowed one of her own arms to creep around his back as she suddenly felt much warmer and more comfortable. In an effort to calm her nerves, she repeated a single sentence in her head, _although I happen to love you, we're _just_ friends_, and it was the last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~/*****/~~~~

Atsuko eventually felt the need to open her eyes from the bright light pouring in through the window; she noticed that both she and Kakashi had moved in the night, where she was on her back with Kakashi half lying on her, an arm across her chest. Their legs were slightly intertwined and his face was leaning on the side of her neck; she couldn't resist tensing at the awkward situation they were in, she wanted to move away but knew that it would probably wake him up. _Shit, how the hell do I get out of this one?_ She just lay there for a little while, wondering what she was supposed to do, while trying to ignore what of his mostly naked body she could see… she'd take Kakashi's advice and see Tsunade-sama today, hand in her report (and maybe squeeze in a little play time in the snow); then probably prepare for her next mission with Tsugichi. She took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm her nerves of being so close to Kakashi – even if he was currently asleep – she inched away from him little by little, as she managed to get a foot out from under the covers, it felt as though it froze. She whipped it back under the warm covers, _clearly the power's still out_ she thought a little miserably, as Kakashi tensed his arm a little, making his grip tighter.

Atsuko couldn't help but shiver at how her core temperature had been reduced so much by one foot in the cold. She pulled her arm out from under him, and reached over to the bedside table, turning her back to him at he same time, seeing that it was nearly twelve,

"Kuso!" she cursed under her breath, Kakashi, however was not in any mood to get up,

"Stay here, it's too cold," he muttered, curling both his arms around her waist,

"Kakashi, I need to see Tsunade-sama, hand in my report and it's already nearly twelve,"

"Eh, the day's not over yet," She rolled her eyes,

"Sorry, but _I've_ got stuff to do today… no doubt you'd just sleep until even _that _becomes too boring," she grumbled the last half under her breath, but he heard it nonetheless,

"Eheh, but it's cold and I'm lazy, what more do you really expect?" Instead of answering she merely took hold of one of his hands, pulling it from around her, ignoring the uneasy twitch her heart gave and leaned up; although failing to hide the shiver she gave at the cold, quickly stood up and pulled her shinobi shirt over her head, yanking off her shorts and speedily pulling her trousers up, she found her long, but fingerless gloves to cover her wrists and pulled her cloak around her shoulders and a mask over her face.

Looking back at Kakashi who was still lying on her bed yawning, rolling her eyes _again_, she walked out of the room to find her report. She would have made tea, if it weren't for the damn power being out; instead she ducked her head back around the door,

"I'm going out for a bit, might see you later," as she disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared outside the Hokage's office. Knocking on the door, she wandered in,

"Hokage-sama I have my report on the last mission and something else I want to talk to you about," she handed her report to Tsunade who briefly flashed her eyes over it, nodding in approval in places,

"Go on,"

"Well, I was out last night at Yakiniku Q and I felt a very faint chakra signature that I didn't recognize,"

"Were you with anyone?"

"Yes, a non-shinobi villager called Inusai Daisuke, I know him relatively well," Tsunade nodded slightly, "There aren't any… uh… _guests_ in the village are there? I felt it twice, both very faint, as though someone were trying to suppress their chakra but momentarily failed a little,"

"There is no one else in the village at present, but I'll send out an ANBU squad… keep an eye on this 'Inusai Daisuke'," Atsuko wanted to defend him for a moment feeling sure that he wasn't anything suspicious, but their last conversation flashed through her head,

"Hai, Hokage-sama,"

"Good work, Yutsi-san, keep a careful eye out and report anything else that seems suspicious… here is your next mission, please leave tomorrow," Atsuko nodded as Tsunade used her ANBU name, "Dismissed," she disappeared in a small puff of smoke, reappearing outside in the street. She wandered off to find a little shopping as she looked at the scroll to see how long the mission would be, _A-rank, escort feudal lord;_ _time allotted: three days, oh good! Then I can actually by some shopping and have food to come back too,_ the thought with an edge of sarcasm.

Before she went shopping, she thought it wise to send a little messenger bird with the scroll to Tsugichi, as she added a little note saying, _yo, meet me at 7.47am outside the west gate, Yutsi-Taichou_. She then went to take a walk in the snow, as she meandered to where she'd previously trained in the very secluded area on the far side of Konoha, but she was stopped by the one person she expected to still be in bed.

"Mind some company?" she shook her head, feeling a little worried by his presence, but kept trying to remind herself that _despite_ the fact she was attracted to him, they were _friends_ and her feeling could and _should_ be kept out of the equation.

"Where're you headed?"

"Just for a walk in the snow…try and find a patch with no footprints in it…" as soon as she ended the sentence the snow began to fall again, as she looked towards the sky, with a big smile on her face. She looked back at Kakashi,

"What's you favourite weather?"

"Dunno… never thought about it," he responded dully, as Atsuko allowed an extremely unimpressed expression to pass over her face as Kakashi let out a little laugh, "The only time the weather's important is when it would have some sort of effect on my mission, such as the snow and I'm more than a day from Konoha." He responded with a light shrug, but his eye steadily on Atsuko.

"How long ago did you get up?" she eyed him, noticing his change from yesterday's back shirt and mask, to a navy one he was in today,

"About half an hour ago… it was too cold so I had to get up," he held a slight air of complaint in his voice as the snow was steadily getting heavier,

"Haha, serves you right for trying to make me late," she skipped away towards the edge of the training fields where the snow was getting a little deeper, until she eventually disappeared into a snowdrift, Kakashi appeared next to her crouching down to her height, as she sat up, laughing at herself,

"Eheh, that snow was a little deeper than I thought, ehehe," she laughed, looking noticeably colder but held an air of slight embarrassment but also happiness at the snow; Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the side of her he wouldn't have recognized in a hundred years. Of the woman he knew now rather than the little girl he first made friends with so many years ago.

"Hey," she spoke suddenly, turned towards him slightly, still sat on the snow, "How's Naruto doing? And the other two genin you were teaching?" Kakashi looked at her a little oddly at her random change in conversation,

"Err… Well, Naruto has gone with Jiraiya-san for training for a good three years or so, the girl of my group Haruno Sakura is beginning her training under Tsunade-sama and Uchiha Sasuke… well… to narrow the story down a little he sought out Orochimaru after he was given a curse seal thinking that he could give Sasuke more power," Kakashi looked a little glum as all of his students had been passed off to other people, probably leaving him a little lost for what he's supposed to do with his time.

"Wow? All three are now under the tutelage of the three legendary Sanin? _Damn…_ I'd be proud, Kakashi, clearly you taught some quality shinobi under you,"  
>"Yea…maybe… I wish I could have seen what was going to happen between Naruto and Sasuke though… they were always antagonizing each other, but I'd never thought I'd see Naruto so close to death by the hand of Sasuke…" Kakashi looked even gloomier,<p>

"Ah-haha, I wouldn't worry too much… uh… well, Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan will be fine under Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-san and Sasuke… well maybe that was what he wanted most?... Th-though of course I don't know them even half as well as you, but guessing from what sort of past he must have had then maybe he… well… I dunno really…" she failed miserably in her attempt to cheer him up, "sorry."

He shook his head, but Atsuko couldn't stop herself saying one more thing,  
>"Hey, you're still their first proper sensei, right? So you'll always be of some importance to them, but they're under different sensei's now… so there's nothing you can do but keep getting stronger, and help them when they need it,"<p>

"You make me sound like a dad," he grumbled, his hair steadily gathering the falling snow

"Well, for Naruto and Sasuke, you're probably the closest thing they'd had to one," she reasoned, pleased that he looked a little better as he rolled his eye and grumbled something incomprehensible, she stood and brushed the snow off of her self,

"Eh?"

"Nothing…I didn't say anything," as he rose to his full height as well, they wandered more over the snow covered field, Atsuko was too busy staring at the beautiful weather to notice what he was doing, which happened to be rolling a snow ball.


	21. A Suspicion Arises

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [21] : A Suspicion Arises :_

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><p>Atsuko and Kakashi walked back towards their respective houses, drenched and shivering form the cold as the snow was <em>still<em> falling and was now more than a foot high, freezing their open toes,

"Hey, I'm gonna take the quick way home and change but I'll head over to yours after, yea?"

"Sure… If I'm not there, then just let yourself in, as I need to get some food for the house," remembering she again forgotten to either eat _or_ buy any food,

"Ok… I'll also bring some of the food I've got at mine too," she nodded and they both parted ways. As she appeared outside the shop, she could help but let her mind linger on the Jounin and their snowball fight, which she could sense her feelings for him growing, which was _not_ good… it seemed to take so much effort to make sure that nothing she did would seem beyond the normal bonds of friendship, _although he did a few things but maybe that was just how he was?_ She didn't know and was divided as to whether she wanted to or not. She brought most of her usual things, although most were in dried form for her up coming mission, and 'took the quick way' back to her apartment after she'd paid.

Kakashi was sat on her sofa reading when she got in, she quickly packed away the food, finding a few extra items Kakashi must have bought and began to collect all of the items needed for her mission tomorrow after she'd gotten into some dry clothing.

"A mission?" Kakashi asked, not looking up from his book, as Atsuko pulled out the now nearly frozen dango and panda biscuits Kurenai had brought and handed him some, as she munched the other half, to lazy to make an effort to make anything else; she ate furiously, realizing just how hungry she was,

"Yea, I've got to be at the gate at 7.47am to meet my subordinate… what time is it now?"

"Uh, about four thirty-ish," he responded lazily, just as a knock at the door which Atsuko went to answer, which revealed Asuma and Kurenai,

"God damn!" Asuma stated, looking at her wildly, "It's freezing here! Why don't you have the heating on?"

"The power went out yesterday, and I hadn't bothered to check since," as Asuma rolled his eyes,

"Well, luckily, the bar _does_ have power and warmth, so do you guys want to come for a drink?"

"Yes!" Atsuko quickly replied, thinking alcohol and Asuma and Kurenai would do a good job of distracting her from the cold, "I'm assuming we can go now as I've got a mission real early tomorrow,"

"Yea, at the most random time," Kakashi grumbled standing up and pocketing his book,

"What?" Asuma looked at him a little confused

"At 7.47am apparently,"

"Hey! I happen to like oddly specific time, thank you very much," she replied, as she grabbed a cloak and they all walked out of her house into the just as cold corridor and off to the bar.

The snow outside was as deep as ever, probably more so, as the other Jounin look uncomfortable and stared with dislike at the snow for which Atsuko couldn't help but still feel mild sympathy for the snow even though she knew it was ridiculous to feel anything for the weather which made it seem as though it were sentient.

Eventually they made their way to the bar which was surprisingly busy, although it was in the part of town not suffering with the power shortage; Atsuko opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off,

"Sake?"

"No thanks, I'd rather some Asahi actually, it's a little easier to handle on an empty stomach,"

"You just ate some dango," Kakashi reasoned,

"Well, that's all I've eaten since nine last night, so gimme a break, ok?" she looked at him with a playfully unimpressed expression, he smiled back as it showed through his eye and wandered off to the bar,

"You're just going to let him buy you a drink just like that?"

"Well… he owes me,"

"How?" Kurenai asked, both her and Asuma staring at her with interest,

"He smashed a vase of mine a little while back, and has been freeloading off of me since yesterday when the power went out," Kurenai and Asuma shot each other an odd look,

"So he's been staying at yours?"

"Yea, it too cold," Kurenai looked like she had to restrain herself from laughing a little, Kakashi returned with a bottle of sake and one of Asahi,

"Oh, it's my turn for a round right?" Kurenai looked at Asuma who nodded,

"So I hear you've been freeloading of her," as they walked over to a now empty table, a little closer to the bar than any of them would have liked.

Kakashi thought about the question for a moment, not really liking the term 'freeloading' feeling as though he'd prefer the phrase 'keeping her company'.

"Eh, it was cold and I thought it was the best place to go," he responded lazily, not tell the_ whole truth_,

"So basically, yes," Kakashi didn't respond but merely busied himself with pouring a cup of sake and downing it in a flash, surprised that the two others at the table were used to him and his habits that they automatically looked away when he lifted his cup. Kurenai returned with a bottle of sake and two cups, as Atsuko took a swig of the beer; Kurenai and Atsuko began talking about something but Kakashi wasn't paying much attention, he could almost _feel_ Atsuko sat next to him, as he could sense his own lack of comfort at her proximity.

He hadn't quite expected to wake up so close to her this morning, or to have allowed himself to push things too far with her earlier during their snowball fight, he tried not to show his slight embarrassment at himself. Knowing that it was dangerous for him to allow himself to act so unchecked around her, too dangerous to allow himself to get too comfortable and assume that he came before Daisuke. Common sense told him to take a step back, but he knew how difficult it was around Atsuko, for whatever reason he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. But as he felt a familiar presence approach, he groaned internally, wishing that Daisuke would disappear once and for all.

"Hey, how are you guys doing? It's crazy weather, no?" he smiled over the table while the Jounin all nodded and muttered in agreement with him, he pulled up a stool next to Atsuko, "did you manage to hand that report in?"

"Yea, I did, although a bit later than I would have liked," she unable to resist shooting the tiniest look at Kakashi as she said it, Daisuke looked at her with a little suspicion,

"A-anyway, I came to ask if you want to have dinner again?" Atsuko resisted slapping a hand on her forehead,

"Sorry, Daisuke, but I've got a mission tomorrow for a while…"

"That's not a good enough excuse," he leaned an elbow on the table holding a smug expression,

"Daisuke, I-" she shot a pleading look at Kurenai and Asuma,

"Sorry, Daisuke, but Atsuko and I are busy for the next few weeks, I need her help with some of my genin and other reports and things, she owes me," Kurenai responded, saving her from Daisuke _sort of_.

"Oh… well… let me know when you're free ok?" he said, standing and wandering off looking a little dejected; as soon as he was far enough away,

"What? You had a date with him?"

"No! It _wasn't _a goddamn date! I was out in the snow, after my last mission and stumbled across Daisuke, I was hungry and had no food at home, so we ended up at Yakiniku Q," Atsuko explained, eyeing Daisuke out of the corner of her eye, as he walked around the corner of the bar and out of sight, she saw a small puff of smoke curling around the edges of the corner, and that same, faint chakra signature, _It-it couldn't be-_

"Did anyone see that? Or feel the-" she cut herself short by seeing the confused, if not blank expressions, "Uh, n-never mind," she noticed Kakashi not paying much attention, his attention focused on his book, "Oh, by the way, I've still got your _Paradise_ book, I can give it to you later If you like," He nodded back,

"Mmh," as a sign of approval,

"Atsuko, if you don't like Daisuke," Kurenai began, flashing a quick look at Kakashi, "Then be confident and tell him! Your lack of clarity is confusing a lot of people, goddamn it!" Kurenai looked a little annoyed and suddenly downing two cups of sake straight.

Asuma stared at her as though she'd gone mad and often wondered why Kurenai got so heated whenever an issue arose about Atsuko, Kakashi and Daisuke… maybe there was more to it than he knew… but he _did_ know that there was nothing anyone could really do resolve the issues, they could only do it themselves and to that end, he didn't care much beyond the wellbeing and happiness of his friends; which, for the moment, seemed to be fine.

"Kurenai, take it easy, Atsuko will handle it as she sees fit," he eventually spoke in a calming tone, grinning a little at Atsuko and raising his cup to take a swig, as Atsuko gave a rather half-hearted smile back, worried both at her situation with those around her, and what she'd just seen, worried that Daisuke was indeed the course of this mysterious, fleeting chakra signature. She took a few more drinks, pondering the issue but thinking that before she went to the Hokage, she'd gather a little more information about Daisuke, and have something more definitive to tell her rather than conjecture and potentially nothing more than coincidence.

_Maybe I will have to have dinner with him again after all… ugh… damn this whole messy situation to hell!_ She gloomily took a rather large swig of the bottle and finishing it in the process.

"Damn, does anybody want another drink?" she asked a little lazily, feeling stressed and tired with all that had happened lately,

"Hey, I'll get the next one, more Asahi?" Kakashi responded, looking her squarely in the eye as she felt her chest tighten a little, she could hold his gaze for long,

"Uh, yea, but you got the last one so I should-"

"Yea, but you brought the shopping of which no doubt I'll end up eating a little of, and you've let me stay for a while so the least I can do is buy you a few drinks," he responded, as Atsuko couldn't resist an unimpressed smile at his slight presumptuousness,

"I… dunno…" she gave in, unable to find an appropriate response to him as he stood and wandered away.

Atsuko just sat there in silence, not really wanting to have to deal with anyone for the moment, allowing the conversation between Asuma and Kurenai to wash over her, hearing but not really listening to their words. Before long, a bottle of Asahi seemed to appear in front of her, which she grabbed and immediately began to chug it down with more gusto than she probably should have.

"Hey, hey, slow down, it's not going anywhere ya know," Kakashi spoke putting his hands up in an effort to slow her down a little, she paused to take a deep breath in, and set the now considerably emptier bottle down on the table,

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little stressed out,"

"About what?"

"_Every_thing,"

"Well, that narrows it down," Kakashi rolled his eye, "Don't worry, you've got a mission tomorrow, right? That should take your mind of things for a while," she nodded in agreement,

"Yea, maybe you're right… And there's always the snow," she grinned more to herself at her comment, as she heard him give a short breath of amused irritation, as she looked back at him holding an odd expression, relaxed in nature with an odd warmth to it, but she couldn't read it. She flicked her head back to the beer and took another long gulp, as Kakashi stood again and walked off, she looked over at the other two, who held rather questioning looks,

"What?"

"Nothing… I'm just thinking that you really should do something about all of this,"

"About all of what?" Kakashi responded, instead of Atsuko as he set another cup down on the table,

"What's that for?" Atsuko interrupted,

"Because you're about to finish that and I can't be assed to get up again," Atsuko narrowed her eyes in confusion,

"Firstly, you just did, and secondly I wasn't going to ask you too,"

"Exactly, this solves both problems," Atsuko rolled her eyes, but thanked him nonetheless. The night was long enough, and she'd seen no more of Daisuke, and had a couple of drinks, not really wanting to go back to her no-doubt still cold apartment. But eventually they decided to leave and she walked back out to the crisp, cloudless night, the snow still extremely high and more frozen than earlier when it was freshly fallen. Atsuko sighed again, and looked over at Kakashi who was reading while walking, wondering what she was supposed to do about her feelings for him… they were getting stronger and she disliked having to pretend when it was so difficult.

Everyday seemed to present its own challenge, be it the weather forcing them together (although she wasn't complaining _too_ much, for getting to see him the better half of naked) or Daisuke showing up at the most inappropriate time. She disliked being the liar that she was; a liar as a shinobi where most of her fighting and killing wasn't just for the village but more for personal reasons that she didn't much like to admit to herself, a liar for the easy revere she put across when usually she was feeling nothing close to it. _Liar, a liar and a coward is all I am…_


	22. A Liar In The Fold

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [22] : A Liar In The Fold :_

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><p>She stood, stretching a little out side the gates remembering how oddly difficult it was to get out of bed this morning, even <em>if <em>a certain male Jounin was there because of the cold… she tried to ignore how dodgy that sounded in her head. Tsugichi turned up on the dot and they prepared to leave, but not before Atsuko felt the same chakra signature and a presence in the trees, she appeared almost instantly at the spot where she sensed the presence, but all trace of anyone was gone, she sighed silently _I hope that there really wasn't anyone, and that I'm just on edge with all that's happened lately_

"Taichou, what is it?"

"Nothing, let's go," she commented and they sped off to their destination, Atsuko's angst only increasing proportionally to how far she was from Konoha.

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><p>It was, in all, a boring mission simply to escort a feudal lord from one village to another, and it required all three days because he was so slow, that damn lord didn't seem to know the meaning of the word 'quickly'. She was very on edge throughout the mission, although there was nothing to worry about one band of thieves tried it take them on, but they were no match, they weren't even shinobi. What was more on her mind was her suspicions about Daisuke and the presence she'd felt just before they'd left Konoha. They were heading back at probably quadruple their rate on the mission and were less than a few hours from Konoha and again Atsuko thought she could feel a presence which felt the same as the one just before she left, but there was also another familiarity to is, as though she knew it from somewhere else. They were now landing in front of the gates, which was still covered in snow, albeit a little lighter than when she left but Kakashi's appearance distracted her,<p>

"You need to come with me to see the Hokage," he said, his tone commanding and as though he didn't know her at all.

"What's the problem?" she caught up to him as he turned,

"We can't discuss it here,"

"Fine, Tsugichi, go on home and don't worry about the report, I'll handle it," her subordinate nodded and after flashing one more glance at Kakashi, who couldn't see it through his mask, he disappeared in puff of smoke. Atsuko and Kakashi made their way to the Hokage's building in silence, and as they appeared in front of Tsunade, it was soon clear what this was about.

"Hokage-sama, Atsuko has just returned from her mission and we can more accurately explain what's been happening… Atsuko told me about the Chakra signature she felt when she was out with Daisuke, and I've sensed a similar faint chakra presence a day or so ago. I tried to find it which did lead me to Daisuke, I didn't think too much of it, but were at the bar the other day, right?" he looked at Atsuko, whose mind clicked in understanding as to what Kakashi was saying,

"Yea, I saw Daisuke walk away and round a corner and felt the same chakra and a little puff of smoke where he'd just walked… it could have been a coincidence and I'd like to tail him a little more to find something definite,"

"Good… will it be easy enough to talk to him and find out information?"

"Err… yes, Hokage-sama, it shouldn't be too difficult," she couldn't resist shooting a quick look at Kakashi,

"Is there a problem, with this, Atsuko?" the Hokage looked at Kakashi's unchanged demeanor, but could sense him stiffen a little, wondering if there was something else to this mess.

"No, not at all Hokage-sama," she caught herself, trying not to think about how she'd have to go on a date or something with Daisuke.

"Dismissed, and make sure that whatever happens, you come and report back to me immediately, Atsuko, and I'll expect your report from your mission tomorrow by twelve thirty, dismissed." Tsunade curt voice ordered them swiftly away from her office, as they both walked slowly out of her room and down to the cool street.

"So I guess you'll be going on a date with him or something," Kakashi's voice was unreadable.

"Yea," she sighed heavily, "I hope he doesn't say anything weird to me again,"

"Like what?" he showed a little more interest, a little worried as to what he'd said,

"Well, he claimed that I 'didn't have a bad bone in my body' reasoning that 'I only kill the bad guys because I have to,' he had a really odd, sort of self righteous tone to voice, as though he were speaking form experience but as soon as I asked him what a non-shinobi would know, he changed back to his usual self, it was a little after that I felt the chakra signature," The now murky and slushy snow from all of the footsteps only worsened Atsuko's mood,

"That is weird… do you fancy getting something to eat?"

"Yea… I guess I am a little hungry… though I've got some stuff at home and I need to get this report done… then I'll have to find Daisuke," she didn't quite mean to sound so down,

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to pretend to go 'on a date' with Daisuke… and everything is just so… messed up lately… I almost wish life would go back to how easy it was before I got close to you all… _almost_,"

"Can't be too bad then?"

"Nah… not really, I guess it's just one of those days where I'd wish stuff would go how I'd want it to,"

"What would that be?" he responded, both his question and the strong gaze she could feel off of him, held deep interest; she refused to answer _that_ question though, if she did then things probably would go back to how they were with his no doubt hateful reaction to her saying _I'd like to tell you that I love you and hear the same thing back_… instead of allowing that thought to depress her further, she changed the subject,

"Do you have any missions soon?" she glanced at him before she could stop herself, meeting his eye holding the question with interest, although it narrowed in confusion as she changed the question _ I wonder what her response would have been?_ He couldn't help but wonder, at a complete loss for what it could be;

"Uh… not sure, I'll need to see Tsunade-sama tomorrow," she nodded back in understanding, smiling at the laziness of his tone,

"What?"

"Do you ever actually look _forward_ to a mission? Or indeed doing anything at all? It always sounds like you're too lazy to be bothered" he chuckled a little in return,

"Well, there are things I do look forward to, but mostly missions are a lot of effort," he replied, his tone even lazier than it was before, as Atsuko couldn't help but laugh a little at his response,

"Well, I'm glad _something's_ amusing you lately… you always seem so stressed out,"

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, I shouldn't take it out on you,"

"You're not, don't worry… well, if you're sure you don't want lunch then I guess I'll see you around, hope the _date_ goes well… oh and the power's back," he disappearing in a puff of smoke, before she could say anything else. She turned to wander back to her apartment wondering what the emphasis he put on 'date' was supposed to mean, while she ran through the report in her head, it wouldn't take long.

~~/********/~~

Atsuko put down her pen next to her now finished report, it was time to eat something; it was late now, closing on dinner time, and thinking that she could eat some sticky rice and sushi she had, she could then go and find Daisuke, who should be at work on this day – he usually was. She ate while feeling on edge, _what if Daisuke was there and whether I'd be able to gain the information I need without his thinking much about it… what if he wasn't there, it was hard enough to work up the courage to 'lead him on' now, let alone if I have to brood on it for a few days. Crap…_ she finished up, finished the last few sips of tea, standing and gathering her pouches (which were adequately stocked with shuriken and kunai) grabbed her pouch of money and a small notebook and left her apartment behind stepping into the cool evening air wrapped warmly in her cloak. Atsuko reached the bar far more quickly than she would have liked, as she stepped inside, it was relatively empty, and Daisuke was stood pouring out a cup of sake for a customer. She walked over to the bar passing Daisuke who looked up and smiled at her, which she returned as best she could despite her mask and her feelings; she took a seat near him but further to the end of the bar. As soon as he was finished he walked over, a strange smile on his face,

"Strange to see you here alone and sitting at the bar, who're you waiting for?" he placed a forearm on the top, leaning a little closer to her,

"You, actually… I felt … well, there's something I wanted to ask,"

"Reconsidered my offer?"

"Sort of… I can't have dinner but I'd like a chat and a drink if you can spare it?" she asked, putting on a cutely pleading expression, and pulling her mask down over the bottom of her chin,

"Of course, I'll have to keep an eye out for who wants a drink, if you don't mind a few pauses," he quipped back, "sake?"

"Asahi, please, maybe a little sake later," he grinned and walked away for a few minutes, as Atsuko mentally prepared herself to keep a cool head.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" he placed a bottle down on the table,

"Did you ever want to become a shinobi?"

"Well, yea, what little kid doesn't?" he grinned back, looked down the bar, away from her, "but… I couldn't make it past the academy, I just wasn't good enough," he laughed to himself more, but it seemed oddly forced to her, as though it was more of a painful memory,

"What do you mean? You know there is a highly skilled genin who can't use Nin or Genjitsu; for the most part natural skill isn't all there is to it, usually its hard work and determination,"

"Yea, and I've got a distinct lack of both!"

"Ehehe, discipline's hard for a kid," he nodded back, a flash of the same self righteousness in him, which quickly disappeared,

"So how did you make it then?"

"I had only me to rely on," she responded simply, taking a large gulp of Asahi; another customer approached the bar,

"Excuse me a moment,"

"Sure,"

Atsuko had time to think, her intuition told her that she was getting closer but it would take significantly more work to get anything definitive. She took another swig of beer keeping her wits about her, and lowering her chakra almost to undetectable levels, Daisuke seemed to flick his eyes towards her but it was barely noticeable, _is that a sign he can at least read chakra? Usually that's a trait of a shinobi and not of a villager_, she took another gulp, keeping her peripheral vision fixed on Daisuke. He walked back over, holding up a beer with a question on his face,

"Please," she nodded as he set the bottle in front of her and leaned back on the edge of the bar,

"Why are you so interested?" she shrugged her shoulders in an effort to look nonchalant,

"I spend hardly any time with non-shinobi outside of a mission, and I'm wondering why someone wouldn't want to be a shinobi, that was all there ever was for me… it never occurred to me that there was anything beyond being a shinobi."

"You were never taught to be anything other than a tool?" he queried, an edge of disgust was in his voice,

"True, we're tools for the village and the fire country, but I can't think of a better life… we work hard, protect those important and don't usually live long enough to feel deep regret." She shrugged as though it was nothing, rather than discussing her life, which, in a sense did mean very little too her. Daisuke narrowed his eyes a little.

"You don't care that you just get used? The arrogance of those in charge at how little they value your life?"

"What is a life worth, Daisuke? What is a life worth when they can't help protect the village? Protect the innocent? When they can't keep the peace? Hmm? Being a shinobi is a great honour, not only can we use cool ninjitsus and stuff, but we are strong and we protect those who cannot themselves,"

"Like the feudal lords? Or those with more money than the rest?" Atsuko rolled her eyes,

"It's not as if you could work in this bar for no money… the world revolves on the circulation of money and the balance of power, these little pieces of paper sort out the former, and we shinobi, the latter." She spoke coolly, observing Daisuke's disgust at her words and what it meant to be a shinobi.

"It's a sick world… do you think my life has no value because I'm not a shinobi?" he held an air of something strange, as though he were testing something, the faint chakra signature momentarily registered strongly but disappeared just as quickly.

"Of course not, Daisuke, not only would I not have somewhere to relax without you and this place, but you are part of this village that I seek to and protect on every mission," she smiled lightly at him, he smiled back but the defiance still shining in his eyes, she wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but suspected that this was a side to Daisuke closer to who he really was. Taking another swig but found it to be empty, looking comically surprised, she moved straight onto the second bottle eliciting a small, but fake laugh from Daisuke. He walked away again, to serve another customer, and Atsuko thought it was wise to leave soon, she now had knew something definitive, and had to tell Tsunade as soon as possible, luckily it was still quite early. She polished off the last of the bottle, as rose to her feet,

"Hey, I think it's time I headed off, I just got back from a mission today and I'm knackered… uh, sorry if I annoyed you with what we were talking about," she scratched the back of her head as she handed him the money for the drinks, "But it was nice to talk to you and I'm sure I'll be back here with the guys soon enough," he smiled back at her, although clearly not happy,

"Don't worry about it, and yea, I'm glad I got a chance to talk with you without anyone else around,"

"Yea, it was, good night Daisuke, see you soon,"

"Bye,"

She walked back out into the cold air, pleased that she'd got _that_ ordeal over with and turned to walk in the direction of her home, having kept her chakra low, she turned into an alley and 'poofed' to outside the Hokage's office, keeping all the information clear in her head. Hoping that nothing too much would come of what she had to say.


	23. An Order Given

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [23] : An Order Given, A Request Made :_

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><p>Kakashi was lying on his sofa reading, but he couldn't really concentrate even on his beloved <em>Come Come Paradise<em>, the very same book Atsuko had borrowed, and was about to go on a date with that damn bar-tend Daisuke. He didn't know when they were going out, and he was nearly tempted to pop over for 'tea' tonight, but she did have a report, and there's little more annoying than being distracted from one when you're on a roll.

Restlessly, he got up and found a bottle of sake he usually kept in his apartment, after certain missions he knew he'd need a drink; as he returned to his spot on the sofa, he poured out a small cup, dragging his mask down and managing to finish three cups in the space of half a minute. _Christ, I'm such an idiot_, he stood and began gathering his shuriken, kunai, scrolls and other varying shinobi tools, ready for some training before seeing Tsunade about a mission, it'd been a while before he could really be bothered to do any more training that what he usually did, but felt more of a need to than usual, rather bizarrely.

He wasn't sure why he was so unsettled at the thought of her on a date with Daisuke, she'd even told him that she didn't like the non-shinobi as anything more than a friend, so why was he worrying? His intuition wasn't so bad that he had _no idea_ of her feelings but he couldn't be certain, not to mention that she seemed so stressed or swamped by things at the moment, she _seemed_ pretty relaxed but he could tell that wasn't quite the case maybe him saying or doing something out of the blue while she's in some sort of mess would give him exactly the reaction he feared.

He sighed again feeling foolish at the promise he'd made himself a little while back about telling Atsuko and sorting this out as soon as he could, but it looked little that one went out of the window pretty quickly. Having finished sorting out his tools, he decided to finish his bottle of sake, read what he could of his book then take a shower and go to bed. Not the most exciting evening, but it couldn't be helped, just managing to get comfortable and getting to a rather good part of the book, a sharp and hurried knock disturbed him, _what now?_ He opened the door, securely fixing his bored expression (along with his mask) but it was nearly overridden when he set eyes on her.

"Atsuko?"

"Hey, I think I'm going to-" she stopped herself, having appeared sooner than it gave her time to think… pausing the thought occurred that if she had to confront Daisuke, and attack him as Tsunade ordered then it would be best that she went alone, despite her orders to find a partner. _I can't help but think that the only real way I'll find the answers is if I confront Daisuke head on, with him knowing full well that it's me and I want answers… as well as not expecting or giving any mercy…_ she'd remained staring at Kakashi, her intuition telling her that it would be nothing but trouble to involve the man stood in front of her.

"'You're going to' what?" he pushed, a little confused at her having randomly turned up and cut herself off in the middle of a sentence; she blinked seeming to come back to herself,

"Oh, nothing, nothing, hahah… I err, had something to say but it seems it slipped my mind…I-I'm sorry for disturbing you, Kakashi, I'll leave you alone," she turned away but he grabbed her shoulder, wondering what on _earth_ was going on,

"Atsuko, what the hell? Why did you just show up here looking flustered, begin a sentence you didn't finish and then try to run off?" he stared at her, not sure what he was supposed to be thinking, "What's happened?"

He steered her inside, although sensing that she'd rather have not, he felt no resistance and for disturbing him when he'd only just got comfortable irrespective of why he couldn't before, he'd rather she didn't leave so soon or with no answer. She took a seat on the sofa as Kakashi walked over to the kitchen and fetched another cup, guessing Atsuko would like a drop of sake,

"Err, I'm so sorry, Kakashi I just thoughtlessly barged in and…" It seemed to Kakashi that she looked oddly lost, he took the free seat next to her on the sofa, pouring out a cupful of sake for her, and handing it to the woman he wished didn't look so awkward as she sat next to him. She accepted the cup with one hand as the other pulled her mask down gently, and she took a reserved sip; he narrowed his eye a little,

"Atsuko, tell me what is going on," he was wondering greatly as to why she was suddenly acting like the Atsuko he'd met up with at the bar all those months ago, the evening after he'd tested Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke.

"It's nothing, really," her tone lightened, but he could sense how forced it was, "I… well, I guess it's been a mad day, ahah,"

"What happened?" he was wondering if pushing the question would only succeed in pushing _her away_, "did you finish your report?"

"Yea," she smiled a little, at least, "It was an incredibly boring mission so it didn't take long…It was a little surprising actually," He gulped another cupful of sake,

"So you were just sat around after?" he dared a joke, finding himself oddly afraid that when she walked out of that door, it would be just as it was ten odd years ago and she'd walk out of his life in much the same fashion, quietly and with no answer to his question.

"Nah… I went to see Daisuke, actually" she tipped back what little there was in the cup and set it back on the table, "I couldn't face making anything out of seeing him so I just went down to the bar and luckily it was pretty quiet," Kakashi couldn't stop himself tensing at the thought _so she's just seen Daisuke… is that why she seems a little odd? Does she _actually_ like him, despite what she says?_ He forced himself to answer,

"What happened?"

"We just talked about stuff… I was curious as to why he wasn't a shinobi," Kakashi had no idea what to say… he didn't want to say anything, annoyed at himself for feeling something akin to betrayal or injustice but that wasn't quite right; "We talked for a while, he became pretty self righteous again… a-as though he thought he was above being a tool," there was something strange to her tone, as though she wasn't quite telling the truth, she was eyeing the bottle but his mood made him as such that he couldn't be bothered to pour her another, so waited until she asked.

"May I?" she pointed to the bottle, he nodded in response, not even looking at her, but rather staring into empty space not really focusing his mind on much,

"Did you find anything out about him?"

"Sort of… there was one weird time when I lowered my chakra as a sort of test and I'm pretty sure he noticed, although it could just be the training a parent gives their child right? Or a life spend around shinobi he may well just have figured it out; I'm not too sure," Kakashi nodded, there was definitely something she refused to tell him about all of this and he _wasn't_ in the mood for games.

"Do you have any up-coming missions?"

"I don't know, I'm going to see Tsunade tomorrow… hey, I'm running out of sake but I could do with another drink… do you fancy going to the bar? I think Asuma's around," Atsuko wasn't sure, despite having just come back from there, it would arouse suspicion in Daisuke not matter how convincing her cover story and it could bring Kakashi closer to exactly what she was trying to hide from him… maybe she should tell him? And try to get _him_ to come to the conclusion that he should stay out of the way while she spoke to Daisuke? _Nah, that would never work… Kakashi's pride is such that he would refuse to allow himself to be shunted to the sidelines_.

"I don't know… what time is it?"

"Uh… half nine-ish… why?"

"I don't really want to head back to the bar if Daisuke's still there… I told him I needed to get to bed early and I am a little tired,"

"What time did you go to see him? Would his shift have finished by now? Anyway you can just say that Asuma and I dragged you there, you didn't have an option," he smiled back, forming some hand seals and sending a clone to go and find Asuma,

"Kakashi, why do I get the feeling that what your suggesting I say won't be far from the truth?" he simply laughed in response, a mischievous glint forming in his one open eye,

"Oh and Asuma isn't free, so we'll just have to go instead," he stood put on his headband and vest, as he turned towards Atsuko, he held his hands out as though he were about to grab something.

"Hey, wait, stop!" Atsuko half laughed as she jumped up and dodged Kakashi's attempt to grab hold of her, she managed to dodge him a few times, but her fatigue made her marginally slower than usual; eventually, after bashing into a few walls and managing to upset the small table causing almost everything on it to crash to the floor (luckily the bottle of sake was empty and didn't smash), Kakashi eventually caught her and slung her over on of his shoulders.

"W-what _is_ your problem? If you'd wanted to go that badly then I-"

"Would have simply found a more interesting excuse, so to make up for that, I'm giving you a more interesting way to get to the bar," she groaned in frustration pressing her forehead into his back as he laughed at her and walked out onto the street, with an arm clamped tightly around the back of her knees. Eventually after an extremely embarrassing walk to the bar, seeming to take much more time than he really needed,

"Can you not walk _any_ faster?" she queried, not well able to get out of the even more undignified position she was in, _does Kakashi have some weird fetish for this kind of thing?_

"Well, there's no rush is there? Besides, it's a nice night and it should be appreciated," she could almost hear him smirk at his own words. Eventually, they arrived and Kakashi walked straight up to the bar with the worst person waiting there for them;

"Who've you captured?" Daisuke asked, with a strangely easy tone to his voice,

"Oh, just a troublesome Kuniochi to catch," he responded lazily, "A bottle of sake please… what would you like?" he turned his head a little in a vain attempt to lock eyes with Atsuko,

"Set her down, for Kami-sama's sake," Daisuke responded instead as Kakashi lowered his shoulder allowing her to slide down to the crook of his elbow and set her feet on the floor although keeping her pressed close to him, she turned to shoot Kakashi a very unimpressed look as his hand remained on her back with his arm fitting neatly around her waist, Daisuke's expression hardened a little,

"What would you like to drink, Atsuko?"

"A bottle of Asahi, please,"

"I thought you had a mission tomorrow morning," he shot a questioning look at Kakashi,

"Yea, I do… uh, but this one dragged me here as you saw and I didn't have much of an option… I bumped into him a little earlier on a walk before I went back to mine to clear my head," she explained with a slightly exasperated expression bringing a light smile to Daisuke's face,

"Here, and if you need rescuing so you can go home and sleep, I'll be over later to chat to you guys when it's a little quieter," he grinned, getting close enough to whisper, he placed a cup and bottles of sake and Asahi on the top, as Kakashi set a few notes down,

"Hey, are you sure? I can pay for my own if you like,"

"Nah, it's ok," Kakashi responded with a smile, _no problem I guess as you forced me to come here_ she thought a little cynically_ you might as well pay for me to drink_, grabbing the Asahi and turning to not only release herself from Kakashi's grip which wasn't helping her keep a steady heart and seemed to make her back burning hot, she walked off to find a small table in a corner.

She looked back noticing that Kakashi wasn't close, on seeing him still stood at the bar she frowned a little wondering what Daisuke's moving lips were saying to Kakashi. She sat down still observing to two men, noticing Daisuke occasionally flash his eyes over to her until Kakashi seemed to turn and walk away leaving Daisuke looking annoyed, as he approached, Atsuko could help but question him,

"What was that about?" he looked a little blankly – if not confused – at her words as he set the bottle and cup down and took a seat adjacent to her, shrugging his shoulders,

"Eh, he's just being protective of you; he sees you as a non-shinobi… he doesn't really get that you're basically as strong as I am, biological strength difference doesn't matter so much with shinobi, which he doesn't seem to understand," Atsuko narrowed her eyes a little,

"Why do I not quite believe you?" Kakashi poured out a cup before looking back at her,

"Well, intuition on the other hand…" he quipped while forming a small sweat drop while Atsuko could do little else but laugh at his expression,

"Ehehe, I would have been convinced had I not talked to Daisuke too many times about being a shinobi," he expression changed back to his usual bored one as he turned more towards her with his hand reaching up to his mask, hiding his face from the rest of the bar. Atsuko turned her head away from him a little to give him some privacy, while she wondered how exactly she was going to face Daisuke tomorrow, taking a long glug of beer, she rose to her feet,

"Hey, I just need to ask Daisuke something, I'll be back in a minute ok?" she looked back at the Jounin next to her, who held the blank expression typical to him,

"Oh, ok," he responded while quickly pouring himself another cup of sake, removing his eyes from hers as he heard her walk away, looking back over to her form, Daisuke smiled pleasantly at her and nodded a few times clearly listening to whatever Atsuko was saying. Kakashi saw the bar-tender's eyes flick over to him more than once, _what was Atsuko asking?_

"So half eleven-ish will be ok for you?" Atsuko asked with a light, reassuring smile on her face as she saw Daisuke return her smile, "You know where the KIA stone is, right? You're happy to meet me there, then?" he grinned in response,

"Of course, anything for you," he smiled pleasantly which she instantly returned,

"Excellent,"

"Are you sure you'll be around if you have a mission?"

"Ah, yea, I'll need to see the Hokage in the morning, but I should have a little time before my mission starts," she grinned, "and Tsunade-sama can be a tricky person to figure out, ehehe so I know I'll need to be quite early in case it's a busy morning," he grinned and nodded in understanding,

"Well, don't worry if you're late, it's a day off for me and I always enjoy being out in the open, so I'm happy to wait,"

"Well, you shouldn't have to be on a day off, but I'll be there as soon as I can, although I'll apologize now if I end up being late," she scratched the back of her neck, in mild embarrassment, "hey, can I get another bottle of Asahi?" she asked,

"Sure… although you can't be done with the first one already," he asked, his face holding a warm expression,

"Nah, but I might as well get it now," she turned back to meet Kakashi's eyes almost a little more quickly than she would have expected; she motioned the question of _another drink?_ Which Kakashi nodded in response, "make that also another bottle of sake too," Daisuke nodded without looking at her, as he placed the bottle of beer on the counter and turned to get another bottle of sake.

"Here," he placed the bottle of sake and another cup upturned on top of the sake bottle neck,

"Oh he's already got a cup,"

"I know, but you'll finish yours first… if he's a man, then he'll share it with you," Daisuke allowed a confident smile to pass his face, as Atsuko gave a considerably weaker one back as she placed a few notes on the top and picked up the two bottles walking away. She ambled back slowly towards Kakashi sat at the table, she could feel his intense gaze on her_ I really hope that Daisuke doesn't think anything's wrong… and that I can get through to him and find some answers without too much trouble_. Atsuko sat down with her same worried revere,

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked gently, pouring another cup of sake and turning to drink it down in a flash,

"Ah nothing," she grinned in response, glugging down some beer and passed over the second bottle of sake to Kakashi,

"Thank you… why's there another cup?" he queried,

"Eh, Daisuke got it out ready claiming that 'I'd finish my beer before you finished all of that and if you're a man then you'd share it with me'" Atsuko explained with a roll of the eyes, making Kakashi smile broadly in response,

"Well, if I don't finish it, then you're of course welcome to some," Atsuko rolled her eyes again at his laughter.

"What did you need to ask him?"

"Ah nothing, just something about earlier," she took another gulp of beer, in an attempt to prevent him asking any more questions; as luck would have it Daisuke then decided it would be a good idea to walk over to them and strike up conversation,

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Not bad," Atsuko replied as Kakashi immediately fell into silence and she could almost hear his face falling back to its usual bored expression… _what is the problem between these two? Have I ever let them actually know that I'd never sacrifice either of their friendship for the other? I know that Kurenai said that friendship isn't the problem but still… I don't see how either of them could like me as anything more… I'm just some whiney, uptight and pathetic Kuniochi; who could possibly see anything more in me? _She glugged down the last of her beer and immediately reached for the next bottle, drinking it down with almost as much ferocity, until she felt a hand on her own clutching to bottle,

"Hey, hey, again with the chugging beer like there's no tomorrow, take it easy Atsuko," Kakashi reasoned, trying to calm her down,

"Ahha, sorry… just thinking about my mission," she grinned sheepishly at the Jounin, "I think Daisuke was right, you really will finish that beer too quickly."

Atsuko had no idea what to say or do, with Kakashi sat one side of her and Daisuke the other, she remained silent,

"Hey, Atsuko what does it feel like, knowing that you could kill any man that threatened you?"

"What? What do you mean?" she spluttered, turning to look at the non shinobi who held a mischievous expression,

"With your skill no one would pose too much of a threat I'm guessing,"

"Well, that's not true… mostly the only men who'd attack me would be other shinobi so the difference still stands ehehe," she scratched the back of her head with a silly smile on her face,

"Well, you can stand up to me pretty well," Kakashi reasoned,

"Eh, but I have an advantage you don't"

"Which is?"

"I don't have a Sharingan," she retorted raising an eyebrow, careful not to give away too much information,

"Well, if you ever get around to helping me train, then that problem can be eliminated right?" she smiled back,

"Yea, I guess so… maybe later this week? If my mission isn't too long," Kakashi smiled and nodded in approval,

"How do you guys train?" Daisuke interrupted them, Atsuko whirled her head around to face him,

"We basically spar, fighting until there's a clear winner,"

"Oh… how does that work? How can you beat her up?" Daisuke directed at Kakashi,

"Haha, well, she's not so easy to beat, we're one all so far," he smiled back at her which Atsuko weakly returned, her nervousness never leaving.

"Well, well I am impressed, hopefully you can score a few more off him next time," Daisuke grinned, Atsuko picked up her bottle, glad that there was only a little left as she gulped it down in a flash and yanked her mask back over her face rising to her feet,

"Right, it was really good to see you guys but now I _really_ have to get some sleep, I'm _knackered,_" she motioned for Kakashi to get out of the way, "excuse me," Kakashi stood and grabbed the bottle of sake which hadn't been drunk yet,

"Hey, do you mind if I take this with me?" He asked Daisuke,

"Uh, yea, but don't make it so obvious that you took it out of here," Kakashi nodded in response and slipped the bottle into his shuriken pouch covering the top with his vest, following Atsuko as she strode out of the door,  
>"Hey, wait up," she didn't stop, "Hey, is something wrong?" he stared at the profile of her face,<p>

"I'm sorry, Kakashi I'm just really tired and it's been a seriously stressful day, I can't believe how much has happened in a few hours,"

"Uh… sorry, maybe I shouldn't have literally forced you to the pub… eheh," he looked nervous,

"Ah, it's ok no worries… and I think I'll just take the quick way home, I guess you'll need some sleep too,"

"Ah, I'm alright and I'd like to walk you home… it feels as though we haven't done this for ages,"

"Bah," Atsuko brushed his comment off shaking her head a little, "You don't need to worry about it… but thank you though," she thought about it for a moment, "Hey, you know that your friendship means a lot to me, right? And that I wouldn't sacrifice it for the sake of being friends with someone else?"

"Yea of course… and the same right back to you," he grinned, with a small hint that he had something else to say sensing that she was on edge, "But…" he cut himself short seeing that they were outside her apartment,

"Oh, hey I'm sure I'll see you again before long, right? I'd offer you some tea, but I've just run out and-"

"It's alright, Atsuko, I'll see you soon, ok?" he smiled at her, but could see the uneasiness in her eyes as she turned and walked into her apartment, as Kakashi stood for a moment staring at where she had just been, _something's definitely up and it involves Daisuke, I'm sure of it… I guess tomorrow will call for some observation work._


	24. The Past

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [24]: The Past Is Now Just The Prologue :_

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><p>Atsuko awoke slowly, and could tell even without the aid of a clock it was late, after finding the time it was just past ten o'clock. Groaning lightly, she didn't want to get up but knowing that she had to, Atsuko dragged her body out of bed and into the shower. Eventually she was ready to leave and it was just after eleven, having taken her time to get ready, being in no particular rush, her head still filled with thoughts of the previous evening. She ate a light breakfast and gathered all of her scrolls, shuriken and kunai packing them safely into her pouches; she was dressed in her usual light but fitted shirt and placed her plates of ANBU armour over it, with a light covering of bandages down low on her forearms, just peeking out from the loose cuffs of her shirt. Her mid calf length baggy (but again slightly fitted) trousers hanging loosely off her hips; having combed her shortish hair, with her wide bangs reaching down to her mid-neck and over the left hand side of her forehead finally under control, she left her apartment and wandered slowly towards the KIA stone to wait for Daisuke, knowing to leave her ANBU mask behind, but still kept her cloth mask securely over her face.<p>

She waited in the crook of a tree branch Daisuke arrived on time, but left it a further few minutes to observe his behavior, he stared at the stone muttering something under his breath. _Is there someone on that stone he lost? His parents maybe? Inusai… I don't recognize the name but it must be in the records somewhere if they were shinobi._ Atsuko pondered for a few moments before jumping down and making her presence clear to Daisuke,

"Hey," he replied smoothly, not even looking at her, _did he already know I was here? He must have done if he can sense chakra as I didn't make any attempt to hide it,_

"You already knew I was here?" Daisuke finally turned to look at her,

"Oh, no I-"

"Don't play coy, Daisuke, I know that you can sense chakra and use ninjitsu," he widened his eyes a little, but they soon narrowed, with a small, suspicious smile creeping to his lips,

"So, you eventually figured it out, huh?" he took a half step towards Atsuko, who kept her stance strong, "So what? Have you come to kill me? To fight me?"

"To talk, for now at least… how can you use ninjitsu?"

"Easy, I was in the academy, but only for a few short years as I hated that place," he turned and took a few steps away,

"You couldn't have learned much ninjitsu at the academy, and certainly not how to sense and suppress chakra,"

"Eheh, that's a riddle for you to solve, my dear… did you know that men are more attractive to women if they aren't simple to figure out?"

"Cut the shit, Daisuke, I need to know how and from where you learned shinobi skills; why did you keep it hidden?"

"Oh, but Konoha has so many fine shinobi at its disposal, what would one more be who didn't attend the academy?" Atsuko's expression hardened, her hands twitching ready to fly into hand seals, an appropriate string of them forming in her head as the chakra began to swirl,

"Oi, Oi, no need to get so feisty, Atsuko, I'm not ready to fight you yet… there are a few things I need to know and think that you need to hear first,"

"What are you talking about?" she retorted, keeping her chakra flowing as Daisuke mischievously grinned,

"You seem to have this quality about you, that attracts a lot of people to you… haven't you noticed?" Atsuko exhaled sharply, showing her irritation;

"I can see that I'm unlikely to get many answers from you… so I'll ask you one more time before I force it out of you; when and from whom did you learn shinobi skills?"

"Tut, tut, Atsuko, don't tell me that you can't see those around you who've taken a liking to you," Atsuko narrowed her eyes, _is he trying to get me to falter by telling me what he thinks I'd like to hear?_ "In fact there are two in particular, who end up annoying each other whenever they and you are involved," he continued, his voice and expression softening, _yeah I knew it… that's exactly what he's trying_. Atsuko immediately formed some hand seals and sent out some chakra blades of electricity in Daisuke's direction; he managed to dodge them although one caught him, slicing through his waist, but unfortunately it didn't do any serious damage _shit_.

"Nice try, but let's not fight just yet, hey?" Daisuke, clutched his side but never allowed his smug smile to leave his lips, "Now, what would you like to know first about your beloved Kakashi?" Atsuko narrowed her eyes in distain,

"There's nothing you can tell me about him… who trained you to be a shinobi?"

"Ooh, now that I can't tell you… it might cause trouble," Atsuko gritted her teeth,

"Why are _you_ suddenly causing trouble? Why have you remained hidden?"

"I don't like shinobi; they're too damn self-righteous… I'm leaving this place and I want you to come with me,"

"Why?" She asked back, cautiously,

"I have my own plans for my life and I will need some company…"

"You aren't the Daisuke I recognize," she began slowly and would have continued were it not for his harsh laughter,

"Hahaha, that man is _gone_, but he was one you liked, ne? I though you would like a man like him… and it would have worked out, my little plan for you, but Kakashi decided to get his pompous self in the way,"  
>"<em>What<em> would have worked?" Atsuko gritted her teeth, reaching for a shuriken,

"You were supposed to come with me… you don't seem to fit in too well here, so I was thinking that if I could win your allegiance then I'd have a few more options for myself," Atsuko resisted the urge to rush forward and punch him as hard as she could in the face, steadying herself, she asked a composed question,  
>"What were you planning on?"<p>

"Hmm… I don't like the leaf, I don't like any hidden village really, or any shinobi… I have contacts though of varying 'missing nins' as I think you call them, whose aims I share… you seemed like an ideal candidate, especially after holding your own against 'the great Hatake Kakashi', you would definitely provide a valuable asset." Atsuko narrowed her eyes, _so he seeks to get his name in the history books? What could varying missing nin want with him…? To form a bridge to a village they couldn't other wise gain info about, maybe?_ She wondered, a plan forming to attempt to capture him, "Ooh, don't you like the idea of that? Hehe, I really did like you Atsuko, I still do and I think you'd be such a _valuable asset_, what a pity you chose to toy with me for so long, hmm?"

Atsuko's anger grew, _well, it's not like I feel undying allegiance to the leaf, but I'd never betray it either, I can't figure out his reasoning here,_ she leaped forward as they clashed kunai, she able to block or dodge all of his attacks, while landing a number of her own sharp kicks to his legs and ribs. He fell back clutching at his torso,

"What would a missing nin want with a weakling like you?" She asked, ignoring that her eyes told her this was Daisuke, but her gut told her merely that this was only some inferior bastard looking for some power. Atsuko performed a hand seal, gathering he chakra in her finger tips as she pulled out some sebon needles,

"What?" Daisuke screamed back at her, "You really think me so unskilled? You know nothing!" Atsuko threw the needles, purposefully missing, as he dodged them, but she subtly yanked on the chakra threads making it look as thought she was reaching for a windmill shuriken which she threw in time to curl around, creating two angles of attack at him. He thought he dodged the shuriken but was stuck in the shoulder by two of her sebon needles,

"Argh, I'm starting to think you're not quite the sweet woman I thought… picking on a simple villager, Atsuko, how could you?" Atsuko smirked, internally laughing at his assumption about her,

"Daisuke, you might be simple but you're not _just_ a villager," Daisuke leaped over towards her, with a kunai clenched in each fist, she sustained merely flesh wounds from him, barely more than a few cuts and bruises, but he was getting the worst end of the attacks, Atsuko, flashing her own kunai past him, grazing his jaw and his neck. They came to a sudden deadlock, with Daisuke applying the pressure which Atsuko kept fairly restrained, as their weapons were held out at waist height, Daisuke pushed his face closer to hers, whispering,

"Well, maybe you were right that the only men who'd attack you would be shinobi… but lets see if the 'difference still stands', shall we?" he queried, suddenly pushing his lips towards hers connecting them through her mask, he was successful in angering her, as she pulled back and sharply smashed her forehead into his, nearly breaking his nose with her headband successfully protecting her from any damage,

"Ohh, not bad," he stumbled back, regain his balance and swiping the blood form his eyes, Atsuko didn't pause, creating more hand seals as a glove of chakra covered her hand, giving her what looked like claws of pure wind energy, she leapt forwards and stuck out of Daisuke who had a kunai ready to thrust under her ribs, but her armour deflected it, nullifying his counter attack as she sliced nearly right through his left shoulder and top of his arm, cutting down to the bone.

"Uggh… you… fucking bitch!" he shouted in anger, "You wear armour and use Jutsu's like that… ugh," He clutched at his shoulder as Atsuko stood looking quite relaxed,

"That's right, just because you can't keep up you think the next best thing to do is throw insults, ne?" she held a condescending tone to her voice, knowing that Daisuke certainly had _no_ emotion training and would thus easily fall prey to her words, "Come on, you clearly think that you're too good for training, why don't you show what, if anything you can do, huh?" She could almost see the rage radiating off of him as his face hardened and his rose, shakily to his feet, beginning some hand seals and creating a shadow clone, which attempted to get behind Atsuko who stood still momentarily, guessing what Daisuke's next move was and preparing her counter. She allowed the clone to get behind her, knowing it wouldn't take much to get rid of it; as Daisuke came flying at her he spoke again,

"Don't you dare think that we're done with you, Atsuko," he barely two feet from her, when Atsuko sensed movement nearby; _fuck, not now of all times!_ She shouted internally, but nothing gave away what she was thinking just at that moment.

A blur of green and navy suddenly interrupted them, Atsuko leaped back as her shinobi training gave her a distinct edge that Daisuke lacked; she destroyed the kage-bunshin with a swift kunai while it was reacting to Kakashi's sudden appearance. As he came to a halt, Kakashi stood a few feet away with a kunai out-stretched covered in blood as Daisuke fell to his knees with a deep gash reaching from the top of an arm and all the way across his chest and all the way down past his ribs.

"Ugh," he coughed up a hefty amount of blood,

"Who are you? What do you want?" Kakashi asked, his tone cold and commanding,

"You bastard… can't you see I was busy?" Daisuke leaped up sending a flurry of kicks which Kakashi easily blocked and returned his own sharp but well aimed attacks. Kakashi flew a few steps back and began his hand seals, creating the 'grand fireball technique', Daisuke attempted to dodge it but was caught but a few tongues of the flame. Atsuko saw and opening and threw a shuriken at him, catching him through his shoulder, removing almost all use of his right arm. Daisuke fell back down to the ground with a sharp crunch, as he spluttered in an attempt to speak again,

"Ugh.. eheh, you idiots… how little you must think of me…" he pulled himself up to he knees, panting as a his face started to change in shape, "This is _not_ the real Daisuke… he's left this place… last night and he'll be waiting for you near where the thunder country borders the fire…" It soon became clear that the person left was not Daisuke, he had completely changed _shit… was that Shouten no Jutsu?_ She though as Kakashi sprang forward with kunai in hand, driving it through the stranger's chest killing him instantly, as Kakashi stood back up to full height; Atsuko turned to face him, absolutely _furious_.


	25. Challenging Him

A bit of bad language in this one...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [25] : Challenging Him :_

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><p>"Why the <em>hell<em> are you here?" Atsuko shouted in anger, furious that Kakashi had shown up when she least wanted him too,

"You've been acting so oddly, then you go and nearly get yourself nearly _killed by Daisuke_…. What the hell is going on? What happened when you went to talk to him?" she was feeling stressed, betrayed and frustrated, she just wanted to run away, she resisted the urge to scream in frustration,

"I told you what we talked about… why can't you take the _goddamn_ hint! Huh? Wasn't it obvious enough that I didn't want to talk about it?" not to mention that she was _hardly _dead,

"I was worried, you were acting so weirdly," she frowned in anger, turning away form him, "Why didn't you tell me you were planning to confront him?" Kakashi tried, but failed to hide the irritation in his voice,

"Because I **knew** you'd make the situation worse, I wanted to talk to him, he'd always made an effort to talk to me, and he cared… I had to know what was going on." She turned back to look at him, her expression cold and hard, "I couldn't risk showing up with another shinobi looking like it was going to be a flat fight with no explanation… I-I couldn't to that to him!" She began to walk off, not even wanting to set eyes on him anymore, but Kakashi wasn't giving in as he grabbed her wrist stopping her dead,

"Talk to me; **what's going on**?" She refused to answer, "I'm not a stranger to Daisuke-"

"So how well do you know him, huh? Since when has he actually spoken to you about your life, how you're doing? Eh?" she stared at him with those same dead, cold and emotionless eyes he hated so much, "Well?"

"…Never," he answered slowly, "But he knows who I am,"

"And if we just show up looking demanding an answer? Huh? Some vigilante shinobi against a villager? What the fuck do you think is gonna happen then?" he stared right back, his anger rising by the second,

"I…it wouldn't have been as bad as you'd thought…" he had no idea what to say,

"Don't give me that _shit_," she ripped her arm away from him with an excessive force, "**Of course** it would have been worse… for fuck's sake," she looked back at the corpse of the nameless man she didn't recognize used for Daisuke's Shouten no Jutsu, ripping a hand through her hair, "Now we've lost all trace of him and probably _never_ get any fucking answers," she shot her head back around, staring with a cold emptiness to her eyes, "from now on, learn to take the fucking hint," with her last syllable she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Kakashi in his same unreadable demeanor. She 'reappeared' a few miles outside of Konoha in the dense forest, Atsuko was doing her best to keep her emotions in check but it was proving nigh-on impossible, with clenched fists and gritted teeth, she was angry to say the least. She was angry at not having found out what she really wanted to from 'Daisuke', angry that Kakashi had shown up at the worst possible time and intimidating him into fighting, angry with herself for shouting at Kakashi when she knew he didn't mean any harm; she was angry that things would never go back to how they were. Eventually, even after some minutes of trying to calm herself with the emotion still running raw in her veins; she couldn't control herself, lashing out again with an innocent tree taking the brunt of her rage, smashing some harsh punches at it splitting the bark and the skin on her knuckles at the same time. Slamming her fists sharply at the trunk again a few times and feeling the hateful pain stabbing at her knuckles brought her to a halt, resting her forehead on the tree, her breathing sharp and erratic.

Eventually she calmed down enough to think about what exactly had happened with Daisuke and Kakashi – _something which always spells trouble for whatever reason, when they come across each other _she thought her thoughts taking a sharp downturn, _although I guess that's never changed… what am I supposed to do now? _ She didn't think she could face Kakashi again after having gotten so angry with him…_ I bet he hates me now_; it seemed to be the only thought that swirled around her head along with flashes of Daisuke, who he really was and if what the fake said was true. Despite her care for Daisuke, all that seemed to squash every other thought was Kakashi, how was she going to face him again? How was she going to apologize? What if she _had_ to leave again, like so many years ago? Although it would be for **very** different reasons, the principle would be the same; she didn't feel that she could face them.

_Coward._

That was all she was and all she would remain, she was a coward for leaving the first time, when she was too scared to rely on Sakumo-san and Kakashi as her only support and care; she was too scared to lose them as the only other people, as it seemed, in the world who cared. It seemed that, to a young Atsuko of only five at the time, that her mother, Kakashi and thereby Sakumo-san were the only people she ever needed in her life; Sakumo-san was the closest thing she had to a father, her own being killed before she was born; Kakashi was her best friend and something of a brother in those days, _I can't believe how much has changed… it never even occurred to me sometimes that Kakashi and I were even from different families, for how close we were… yet here I am falling in love with the same person nearly twenty-odd years later and I have no idea how to talk to him, how to seem like myself around him… hell, how even to face him… God-damn…it always seems to be such a challenge with him, I didn't know how right I was with 'challenging him' versus 'one-touch Daisuke'. _

She turned to lean her back towards the tree and sinking downing to sit at the base of the tree at the same time, wishing that she had simple answers to all questions swirling around in her head; uncertain if whether she didn't know or was just ashamed of what the answer might bring. After some time of thinking over all that had happened, although she was no closer to an answer, she stood now feeling deeply uncertain and very lonely; she slowly walked for part of the way towards Konoha before her fatigue and self anger got the better of her as she darted the rest of the way back in a blur of black and silver armour.

As she returned to her apartment all that she could be bothered with was to peel off her now sticky clothing and fall straight into bed, ignoring the fact that she could smell a tiny trace of the man she had to force herself to recognize only as a _friend_. Eventually, she awoke to a small but constant tapping sound, irritating her enough to force her tired eyes open, seeing a small messenger bird outside her window, cursing to herself she sat up waving away the bird to signify that she'd understood, it flew off a few seconds later, _what the hell does Tsunade-sama want now? Damn I can't be bothered to go on a mission…_ she slowly got dressed, feeling almost incapable of going at a faster rate, she bandaged her knuckles roughly not bothering to wash off the dried blood, the stabbing pain returning she held a grim expression but took a slice of satisfaction in the pain.

Eventually she was ready and wandered out of the door, dragging her feet towards the Hokage's building. All the while, she kept out a careful eye hoping that she wouldn't be seeing any silver hair for a while as she entered the building and eventually reached her office, Atsuko knocked on the door, noting that her knuckles stung.

"Enter," Tsunade's voice was stern as she opened the door, her eyes which were fixed on the floor didn't move until she'd closed the door behind her and turned to look at Tsunade, stiffening as she noticed the presence beside her.

"Finally you get here, Atsuko;" the Hokage's voice was emotionless, despite her attempt at a small quip, "Kakashi informed me of the confrontation you had with Daisuke yesterday, firstly though, I want to know why you disobeyed a direct order." Atsuko remained silent for a little while,

"I felt that if I were to have someone accompany me, it would intimidate Daisuke into silence or an outright fight ending without any sort of answer either," Tsunade's eyes narrowed a little,

"You told me Kakashi and Daisuke did know each other… why did you not have him accompany you? That was a _direct order_, Atsuko; do you think you can choose which order you obey?"

"No ma'am, but Kakashi and Daisuke never…" she chose her words carefully, resisting an urge to shoot a look at said Jounin next to her, "_got on_ very well, they weren't friends,"

"Why didn't you let me know about the situation?" Atsuko stayed silent the only answer being both disrespectful but also a non satisfactory one for Tsunade. The Hokage could almost see a physically real tension between the two shinobi, not certain of what their relationship was nor caring much, she wasn't in the mood for games.

"Kakashi has informed me of the situation yesterday, and I'm furious that you disobeyed my direct order…_however_ you are the strongest link we have to Inusai Daisuke; therefore I am sending you on this mission to locate and bring back Daisuke for interrogation, this is a search and capture _do not kill him_… but if you dare to disobey my order again, it will not be taken so lightly. I will formally deal with your infraction upon your return, for now, you are to leave tomorrow morning in search of Daisuke, incapacitate him and bring him back in a fit state to be interrogated. Whatever issue it is that you two have with each other, resolve it, I won't stand for anything compromising the safety of Konoha, _especially_ if it is the result of a stupidity on behalf of one of my shinobi." Tsunade's voice was dangerously low and unforgiving; Atsuko would normally have cared more, but today was one where she had for force herself to remain upright rather than just falling to the floor and going to sleep as she so badly wanted to do.

"Do you understand?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama, I am deeply sorry," it sounded so fake, even to her own ears; although she didn't quite means it as such,

"Very well then, Kakashi, I am instructing you to keep a close eye on this mission and keep everything as I ordered, with minimal disruptions; Atsuko you will answer to him as Taichou on this mission, understood?"

"Hai" they both answered in unison, as Atsuko groaned internally, _fuck, this is gonna be a hell of a lot of fun_ she though sarcastically,

"Dismissed."

The both wandered out of the room and as soon as the door was closed Kakashi spoke,

"What time would you like to meet by the northern gate tomorrow?"

"8.17am" she responded minimally as she could sense the hostility being forcibly buried in him,

"Fine, see you then," he disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Atsuko feeling divided, half of her felt terrible for both how he was acting, how she was acting and the fact that he ran straight off to tell Tsunade what had happened before she got a chance to. The other half felt nothing, absolutely _nothing_, as though there was just nothing to feel and even if there was, it would sap too much energy to make it worth bothering to feel anything anyway. _Damn that sure would make life easier… if I really could feel nothing all the time…_

As she got back out onto the street, she sent a small messenger bird to let Tsugichi know that she wouldn't be around for a little while on mission and he'd need to see the Hokage about his next missions without her. She eventually made it back to her apartment, although she didn't really want to be here, there really was no where else to go. She could go and talk to Kurenai or Asuma, but that would be a conversation that would have a difficult answer for her and was one that she couldn't get involved in now.

She collected all of the items she needed for tomorrows mission, even though it was barely the afternoon now, she was feeling very frustrated she wasn't sure what to do… _I wonder if I should go to the bar? All that though will only bring back unwanted memories… what the hell, maybe that's all I've got, if I get drunk now, I'll have time to sober up later… _she stood, grabbing her weapons pouches and a cloak remembering how chilly she was walking back from Tsunade's office, when ready, she pulled her mask over her face and after closing the door she poofed to right outside the bar, hoping she wouldn't see anyone she knew.

She stepped in, unable to resist flashing her eyes over the room and bar looking for Daisuke although she knew he wouldn't be there. She walked up to the bar and ordered two bottles of sake from an older man serving,

"You were a friend of Daisuke, yes?" he spoke, placing the two bottles in front of her and turning to fetch a cup,

"Y… yea, I was, where is he?" The old man shook his head slowly,

"Oh, that boy's no doubt run off again… oh he's always been a trouble maker… a shinobi without a rank, he is,"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, his mother was a Kuniochi, but died when he was thirteen… she taught him a fair lot, she did but, couldn't hack it when she was gone and gave it all up for this," he placed a cup in front of her and accepted the money with a smile. Atsuko picked up the bottles and the cup and found a quiet, hidden corner in which to sit and wonder at how what the old man had said would change the situation with Daisuke. She poured out a cup and drank it down in a single gulp, pouring a second and doing the same, she leaned back against the wall that her seat was set into, she wondered what exactly it meant. _Does it mean that Daisuke has been training in secret? What was his mother's name? If I can find who she is then maybe I can find a really good bargaining chip to use…_

She sat there for a long time, drinking and thinking about Daisuke… with the occasional hints of Kakashi disrupting her train of thought, it took a surprising amount of effort to force him out of her thoughts, trying to ignore the fact that he probably should be informed of the new information... _oh well, I'll see him soon enough tomorrow and I'll let him know then… geeze, I can't be bothered to face him now_. She was surprised at how fast she'd managed to finish the first bottle and moved quickly on to the second. Throwing the liquid down her throat, her mood still very low, she noticed two familiar forms walking into the bar, not wanting to talk to them, she leaned right back into the shadows, pulling her mask back up sharply while lowering her chakra and tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible; however she wasn't to have such luck.

"Atsuko! You're here alone? How rare," Asuma grinned while sitting on the opposite side of the table, "Where's Kakashi?"

"How am I supposed to know?" she responded her voice more defensive than she meant,

"Is everything alright? I just thought that you'd either be here with him or have seen him recently," Atsuko forced a calm revere to cover her face and attitude,

"Nah, sorry… I just needed a drink it all," she saw Asuma eyeing the two bottles in front of her, "how come you two are here?"

"Kurenai and I were just out for a drink,"

"Oh, then please, you don't have to sit here," Asuma shook his head,

"Nah, it seems to have been quite a while since I saw you or Kakashi… how've you been?" Atsuko poured out another cup and drank it, taking her time to reply to a difficult question,

"Not too much, I suppose… missions and the like, what about you guys?" she looked up to Kurenai taking a seat next to Asuma and placed a bottle and two cups down on the table,

"Same ol' I guess, training my remaining genin and playing Shougi with my chuunin subordinate,"

"Remaining Genin?" she queried,

"Yamakana Ino and Akimichi Chouji; Nara Shikamaru made Chuunin this year."

"Oh! Him, he did very well at this year's exam, well done Asuma, you must be pretty proud!"

"Yea…" he grinned a little, while pouring a cup out for both himself and Kurenai, "I'm happy that he's finally been recognized, despite his excessive laziness," he spoke with a roll of the eyes as he drank down his cup and refilled it almost instantly,

"How ya been, Kurenai? Up to much?" she smiled back, taking a small sip of sake,

"Training my genin too, they were surprisingly perky for the fact that none of them fought during the third exam… nor became chuunin, although the fights were interesting enough for them," Atsuko smiled in return, at least enough so that she was asked no questions, "What about you or Kakashi? You both seem to have stayed pretty quiet recently, I bumped into him earlier and he was in an especially sullen mood,"

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know… he gets like that sometimes, although he perks up pretty quickly when he has something to do," Atsuko nodded slowly, making it appear that she didn't care much, trying even to make herself believe that she didn't.

Atsuko had little left really to say, busying herself pouring another drink and gulping it down, repeating the action a further two times before Kurenai caught her attention,

"Hey, have you seen Daisuke recently? He seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet," Atsuko froze a little,

"N-no I haven't actually… how long haven't you seen him for?" Kurenai shrugged,

"Well, at least since we were all here, which must be nearly a week I think,"

"Hmm that is odd… maybe he's just ill or something," Atsuko took another gulp of sake, staring at the bottle with a solid and emotionless expression, ignoring Kurenai's frown at her odd behavior. Atsuko could feel how empty the bottle was getting _maybe a few more cups worth, then I should head off and get some dinner and some sleep._ She gulped down the last few cups, ready to say goodbye to the two,

"You're not leaving already are you?" Asuma stared at her with a slightly amused expression,

"Well, I have got a mission in the morning and I've had two bottles… maybe there's time for one more though," she thought, as Kurenai nodded, pouring a cup out for her, "Oh… I can buy my own ya know,"

"I know, but you look a little odd, and I'm waiting for you to tell me what's wrong," Atsuko rolled her eyes,

"Will your intuition _ever_ give me a break?"

"Haha, I think you know the answer to that," Atsuko let out a sharp, short breath out of irritation, "out with it then, you've been really uptight recently, Daisuke's disappeared and Kakashi's in a mood too, what the hell is going on?"

Atsuko hesitated, uncertain if she could really disclose the information about Daisuke… and she knew that only half the story wouldn't satisfy. She remained silent for the moment wondering what she was supposed to do, Kurenai wouldn't give up so easily, but it would no doubt cause her a lot of trouble if she told anything to them.

"Come on, talk to me,"

"Ah, Kakashi and I sort of… got into an argument, well… I yelled at him," both Kurenai and Asuma looked surprised,

"Really? What happened?"

"I… had to deal with Daisuke and Kakashi showed up at the worse possible time and… well… scared off Daisuke so I might never find an answer…"

"What do you mean?"

"I can really talk about the context to be honest as it's a bit of a shaky area… I'll tell you when I can but I don't think it's a good idea at the moment. Kakashi and I are being sent on a mission tomorrow to sort it out and I haven't spoken to him since then."

"Damn…I didn't realize there was anything going on… how long is your mission?"

"I don't know… it could be any time length, because of the situation there isn't really a time limit that can be set for it… the Hokage's relieving me of my ANBU duties until it's been sorted out and I return from the mission… so we maybe gone for a while." Atsuko mustered a weak smile, feeling a little surprised at even just saying something made her feel a lot better,

"Shit, Atsuko no wonder you look stressed out… but don't worry about Kakashi, I've no doubt he fully understands why you were angry and you guys'll be fine again," Atsuko grimaced,

"Sorry Asuma, but I highly doubt it, I disobeyed a direct order from the Hokage which and in doing so excluded Kakashi from something so now I have to answer to him as Taichou on this mission while waiting for Tsunade-sama to properly deal with my infraction when I get back," Atsuko picked up one of the bottles she knew was empty but shook it a little, hoping somehow more sake had materialized in the bottle.

Asuma poured her another cup, "Shit, that isn't the best of situations… why did you disobey the Hokage?"

"She ordered me to include Kakashi, but this is Daisuke we're talking about… I _knew_ he'd only make matters worse although that was something I couldn't easily explain to Tsunade-sama and she really wasn't in a listening mood… thanks," she picked up the cup and toasting it a little before gulping it down, "to make matters worse, Kakashi then ran off as fast as he could to tell the Hokage what had happened before I had a chance to explain it to her," Asuma and Kurenai exchanged worried glances, as Atsuko sighed a final time,

"Look, I think I need to head off and get some sleep before tomorrow, thanks guys, and you won't tell anyone, will you?" she rose to her feet, looking them squarely in the eyes,

"Of course not, we'd never dream of it… and hey, you know Kakashi's not a bad guy if you explain it to him calmly and properly then it will be fine, ok?" Kurenai did her best to reassure her friend, who nodded back looking quite unhappy. Atsuko gave them one final wave goodbye and wandered out into the cool evening, _damn I was there a long time… fuck… I hope tomorrow doesn't come too quickly_… she thought as her head tired to sort out all of the information and confusion endlessly swirling around as she slowly made it back to her apartment, unable to tell if her mood was any better or worse from earlier.


	26. The Long Road Ahead

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [26] : The Long Road Ahead :_

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><p>Atsuko dragged herself out of bed and readied herself for not only a long day, but also for being out of her apartment and of any personal space for the next few days. Once she was ready she headed off to the Hokage's office, hoping Tsunade would be around and help her get a look at the records. Knocking on the door,<p>

"Enter,"

"Tsunade-sama, I have a request to look at some of the shinobi records,"

"Why?" the Hokage narrowed her eyes,

"I have reason to believe that Daisuke's parents were shinobi, I would like to check to see if I can find their names," Tsunade nodded in understanding,

"Of course, Shizune should be just down the corridor, she'll show you where you need to go, I hope you find something,"

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Atsuko nodded as a sign of respect, her emotionless face never changing or wavering for the time she spoke to Tsunade, who eyed her carefully – although Atsuko couldn't even guess what she may be thinking.

She was eventually ready, having found the information she needed and made her way to the north gate, well within time for their agreed 8.17am meeting, with her she carried a small notebook and pencil, as she assumed Kakashi would not doubt be accompanied by one of his books, she thought it wise to also carry something to occupy her when there was nothing else to do. Kakashi was already late by twenty minutes, if she was Taichou and waiting for Tsugichi she'd already have found him and _dragged_ him here… but in her head she knew the second she left, or allowed herself to be late Kakashi would somehow have made it here early. She sighed in annoyance her weapons itching a little, she wanted to hurry up and get into battle with someone… She was waiting to kill someone…

"Hey, sorry I'm late-"

"Let's just get going, I don't like timewasters" She turned and darted off into the trees not even waiting for Kakashi to blink again before she shot off, she was fast and it took more speed than he would have guessed to catch up to her close enough to talk,

"Hey, stop, we need to sort out a plan,"

"I have one,"

"Then stop anyway and let me hear it," Kakashi managed to grab onto her upper arm, and slow her down a little, until bringing her to a successful halt on a branch of a tree.

"Geeze, what's the rush?" Atsuko yanked her arm out of his grip, composing herself before turning to look at him, ensuring the dead expression in her face and eyes covered all traces of emotion.

"If Daisuke is near the fire/thunder border, then I imagine that first stop will be to go to all villages or towns there, I suspect that he will not stay in one but he will, no doubt, collect supplies from there. It is at least a four day journey and the more time we waste here widens our search there."

"And what about when we find Daisuke?"

"Head on battle, I can send a few chakra bolts to take out his arms and a few other vital nerves but with a very low chance of fatality." She responded coldly looking back at him, "although this time you should go in first, for whatever reason it is that you two dislike each other, he'll fight harder against you and it will wear him out more quickly," Kakashi nodded,

"It's probably true that he'll give me more of a fight… is there nothing else you want to ask him?"

"I'm done talking to him,"

"Are you annoyed that he lied to you?" Kakashi pushed, wondering if that was something bothering her,

"No… we're all liars, everyone in existence is a liar," He didn't expect _that_ response,

"What makes you think that?" he pushed, wondering what she meant and where it was going,

"Lets go; we're wasting time," those same empty eyes looked back out the ever expanding forest as they both darted off, Kakashi still wondering what was going on, _this isn't an Atsuko I recognize, did Daisuke say something to her? Why this coldness accompanied by such a broad statement? How is she a liar?_

That was the last conversation they'd had for some days, the border was less than a day away now and Atsuko had been feeling nothing but uncomfortable. With Kakashi as the only company and the nature of the mission she couldn't relax, hence whenever he spoke or issued an order, the best response she could give was monosyllabic, did wasn't meaning to sound cold or hateful to him, but there was nothing else she could do or say. Atsuko could feel a desire to kill within her, it was a sleeping giant; always present and ready at a moments notice… there was something to it, taking another's life and it wasn't just the power that everyone feels in that moment; there was something else too, the feeling of erasing a worthless life. A shinobi who looses to another is _worthless,_ their purpose removed, when they can no longer win a fight then they must be disposed of. For Atsuko, draining the life of one who's lost their purpose is clean and easy; she only has to wait until someone will fight her who has both the will and strength to defeat her, it's always been such a long wait.

"We'll rest here for a few hours, the lights fading and we'll be at the border quickly tomorrow, we'll need our strength." Kakashi remarked slowing to a halt, Atsuko falling into step a second later,

"Hai," she immediately fell down to a seat on the light grass, closing her eyes and allowing a calm to wash over her, she wasn't sure how long she sat there for but she could feel her emotional strain lessening and that the objective of this mission and the other things which it entailed didn't matter too much. Before she realized it, a small smile crept to her lips, _I was such a fool to allow myself to loose my way… Kakashi is a friend, that's all I was angry with him then for a lot of reasons the other day and allowed myself to get lost in emotion…_ She opened her eyes to find Kakashi staring at her, trying to ignore how suddenly tensed up her chest felt, she forced herself to speak,

"I'm sorry for shouting at you the other day… I allowed myself to get caught up in emotion which I shouldn't have done and I'm sorry," she bowed her head a little as a sign of respect, expecting silence,

"Ah, no, it's ok, I shouldn't have barged in when I did," he eye closed as a sign of his smile as he scratched the back of his head, "you have nothing to apologize for," Atsuko frowned a little,

"I do have to apologize, but thank you anyway… would you like me to take first watch?" she asked politely, unable to prevent herself creating a wall between them,

"Nah, it's alright,"

"It's likely that you'll be doing most of the fighting, though," Kakashi narrowed his eyes a little,

"What makes you think that?" Atsuko rolled her eyes knowing he knew the answer,

"Daisuke is more likely to see you as the biggest threat to his safety and as a chance to take out his anger and dislike of you to make up for when he couldn't before… as you guys have always been at odds with each other for your own crazy reasons,"

"Why do you think we've always been at odds?" he didn't really want to ask the question _now_ of all times, but wondered what she'd say,

"How am I supposed to know? You people are damn confusing, I think that's the first time I've ever seen two people dislike each other so quickly!" she responded looking a little disgruntled, shifting around to lie on her back, with an arm behind her head as it turned to look back at Kakashi, who held a confused and disbelieving expression, _how can she be so insightful to things that don't concern her, but act like someone whose spent their life under a rock with no human contact when it _does_ concern her?_ Kakashi shook his head, the though occurring to him that if he was ever going to be more than friends with her, then making his feelings and intentions clear would be much more difficult than he first thought; he sighed again, wondering if she didn't actually like him _would that explain why she doesn't see through my actions?_

"I'll wake you up in a few hours, just get some sleep,"

"What? What's the problem?" she asked back in her typically innocent 'I have no idea what's going on' voice, Kakashi merely rolled his eye and pulled out his book to real while there was still light.

Atsuko woke up some hours later, to Kakashi staring at her barely a foot away shaking her shoulder,

"Wake up,"

"Huh? Is it time to move on again?"

"Not yet, we still have a few more hours, can you keep watch for a bit?" Atsuko rubbed her eyes, and sat up as Kakashi leaned back onto his toes,

"Sure, no problem," Kakashi immediately lay down and went to sleep just as quickly; Atsuko remained seated for a moment, rubbing her eyes and sensing the surrounding area for anything suspicious. Her eyes falling over Kakashi's form momentarily wondering about the man next to her, but she quickly looked away and rising to her feet she walked around silently, _that was alright actually… at least I'm better at controlling myself around him now and I can start putting what's in my head into practice_. She smiled again, feeling as though the air around her was a little clearer, _the sooner I can get used to seeing Kakashi as merely a friend and not as a 'potential something' as it were, the sooner I can get used to living my life and go back to how things were; when missions were good and took much less effort than now, when it didn't matter how long I was away from Konoha… maybe with the addition of still going to the bar with those three though…_

After checking her bearings, she calculated that the boarder itself was another few kilometers away and there were two small villages on either side of them a good few kilometers away, _hmm I guess that'll mean Kakashi and I will head to the two villages separately then meet up later… unless one of us finds something first_. Eventually the light grew steadily and it was time to get moving again, she tied to wake up Kakashi, but with some difficulty – clearly sleep was more important right now,

"Damnit, Kakashi, wake the hell up," she shook him quite fiercely by the shoulder, but that only resulted in him turning over and grumbling a little, sighing, Atsuko stood up and walked out of sight; performing some hand seals she created a shadow clone and ordered it to go and scout the area and the nearest village; she gave it almost an hour before she undid the Jutsu. It flew off, hiding its chakra as Atsuko went back to try and wake up Kakashi, who was still as unwilling as he was a few minutes ago,

"Damn you, lazy –ass, there isn't time for relaxing on this mission," she pick up one of his arms and dropped it over his face, it nearly hit but veered off at the last second, proving he was awake and just trying to annoy her, "Ugh, fine I'll see you later then," pretending she thought he was still asleep, she prepared herself and left the scene at lightening speed, gathering a minute amount of chakra to her feet to speed her along.

Keeping her chakra signature very low and her footfalls quiet she approached the first village and released the Justu of her kage-bunshin which she'd held for longer than she wanted too, but all of the information fed straight to her, and she had a lead. Pausing in the top of a small tree, giving her a clear look at the entrance to this village, she waited and sensed for chakra signatures nearby, eventually a faint but definite one was made clear to her, _but that's a signature I recognize… that's-_

"Yo," Kakashi appeared behind her making her loose her balance on her toes and fall flat,

"What the hell is your problem?" she whispered back leaning on her elbows, irritated at Kakashi's antics and that he shot his hands under each of her shoulders, moving her to an upright position, "I was finally getting somewhere, then you go and now you just announce your chakra signature to everyone!"

"Yes, but think where we are, if Daisuke really is here and waiting for us, then we need to let him know that we're here also, I think it will speed the process up," Atsuko rolled her eyes,

"Hai-Taichou," she sighed,

"Well, now that's sorted, raise your chakra a little; you shot off so fast I could barely find you,"

"That was the point,"

"Eheh," he chuckled back, "What have you found?"

"I sent a kage-bunshin off a little while back, and it sensed that same chakra signature headed this way, I suggest we split up and head around this village to find something a little more definite," Kakashi nodded,

"But first, I need to know a little more about Daisuke's Jutsus and style, what more can you tell me?" Atsuko paused for a moment, not sure how exactly to describe it,

"He's fast, and a surprising challenge… he'll goad you… try to get you to loose your emotional calm," Kakashi nodded in response,  
>"Ok, I think it's best that you send a kage bunshin to scout the area, we'll give it half an hour,"<p>

"…Ok," Atsuko formed the hand seals and sent out her clone, which performed a henge no Jutsu and transformed in a woman looking nothing like Atsuko, dressed in plain clothing to scout the area, doing her best to ignore her _friend_ next to her,

"What did he say to you?" Atsuko wasn't sure what to say, she didn't want any of those false words Daisuke said ruining how well they seemed to be doing at the moment,

"Nothing, it doesn't matter… he'll just find something he thinks will bother you and then tell you what he thinks you'll find the most uncomfortable to hear… don't underestimate him because you think he's a non-shinobi," Kakashi nodded sharply, signifying that he understood;

"We'll stick to the original plan, I'll go in first and fight him, when you see an opening incapacitate him,"

"Yea, yea, I know… I did come up with the plan after all," Atsuko responded, with both hints of amusement and seriousness in her voice. Kakashi found himself oddly relieved that the cold, dead expression had left her some time ago, it wasn't a side of her that he liked seeing.

It had been an exceptionally long half hour, with Kakashi a little closer than she would have liked it took great self control to remain calm and focused_ damn, I knew this would happen no doubt there be something else to screw me up on the way back too._ Atsuko undid the Jutsu and all of the information gathered fed back to her,

"Well? Anything?" Kakashi asked gently, his voice not much above a whisper,

"Hmm, it's a little confusing, a number of villagers reported seeing someone resembling Daisuke and my kage-bunshin detected his chakra source from a number of people who seemed like villagers… I'm guessing he maybe using a henge/kage-bunshin combo but none of it adds up… if four people reported seeing him in the same time period, then sure someone would have noticed what's odd about more than one 'Daisuke' walking around,"

"Where was the last place they saw him?"

"In a bar on the far edge of town,"

"We'll head there then using a henge no Jutsu," Atsuko nodded as they both transformed, she looked more like her kage bunshin's henge, with long brown hair of even length, with light hazel eyes and a more angular face shape, while Kakashi looked a lot like his usual self with the same silver colouring to his hair but just in a different style, leaving Atsuko with a mildly unimpressed expression on her face,

"What?" he asked,

"Oh, nothing, let's get going," she rolled her eyes as they walked slowing into town heading for the bar; the place itself reminded her of Konoha a little, but she guessed that was a direct result of still being surrounded by forest; keeping her chakra presence low but not fully concealed, she kept her eyes sharp; she could sense the chakra source of Daisuke approaching, but was unable to pinpoint it, eventually her eyes landed on a figure with a strong resemblance to Daisuke, but seemed a good few years younger. Atsuko caught his eyes and gave a shy smile, implying that she liked him, he smiled kindly back, but Atsuko wasn't sure he understood, grabbing Kakashi's arm and turned around to look back at him, biting her lip a little forcing a blush to come to her cheeks in thinking about some moments between herself and Kakashi.

"What are you doing?" He asked quietly looking down at the Kuniochi clutching tightly to him arm, as she looked back the pink tint to her cheeks beginning to fade,

"Just wait," she whispered back, her pace quickening slightly while dragging Kakashi with her as she strategically turning them down an alley.

"Atsuko-"

"Shush, sorry Kakashi, but we might have found him," she whispered back, releasing him from her grasp and flashing her eyes behind her,

"What do you mean?"

"The man who walked past us just before I grabbed your arm, I'm sure that was Daisuke,"

"Very good…" Atsuko couldn't move fast enough for Daisuke who had a kunai at the ready, slashed it across her back; it was by no means a fatal wound, but deep enough to attract her focus for a minute while someone _else_ answered instead of Kakashi, "too slow… you are so easily distracted by each other… what a pity, although I guess this means that it'll be easier for me,"

"Daisuke," All three of them immediately released the Jutsu and stood facing each other,

"Why don't we take this elsewhere, hmm?" Atsuko asked, ignoring the wound on her back and Daisuke's comment,

"Of course, and I've been watching you for the past day, so I know where to go, don't worry," his voice filtered slowly over to them as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Both she and Kakashi did the same and reappeared in a small open area a mile or so from the village, Kakashi shot a small looked at Atsuko before he strode forward in front of Daisuke,

"I'm your opponent this time, so we'll leave her out of, ok?" The Jounin asked slowly, attempting to look relaxed with one hand on his hip,

"Kakashi, I would have thought you of all people would know that she will never be left 'out of it' where we're concerned," Daisuke smiled slowly, _calm down_ Kakashi thought carefully, _he's only trying to get under your skin; right now, this is a fight between shinobi and traitor, nothing more_. Atsuko wondered for a moment, having hidden herself in a tree to observe the fight, at what exactly Daisuke was getting at, trying to goad Kakashi with a line like that which she _knew_ wasn't true,

"Oh, come on, Daisuke, how about we just get this over with now? I'm in no mood for conversation… not that there was ever much I had to say to you," Daisuke's eyes narrowed,

"You damn shinobi think you know everything and are above everyone… what are you but tools for a short time, huh? Merely for use until your edge weakens to then be thrown away,"  
>"Indeed… but that gives us our power, we know our fates and so gain a strength someone like you could never possess," Daisuke's expression hardened, issuing a small, guttural growl in distain. Atsuko observed them quietly, <em>good, Kakashi,<em> she though seeing how unsettled Daisuke was,

"Wrong, I fight for myself – with the will to fight for my life and for recognition," the 'bar-tender' positioned himself into a fighting stance while Kakashi remained in his 'cool as ever' pose, waiting for something to happen, "How could you seriously think that someone like _you_ would _ever_ have a chance?" Kakashi, doing his best to ignore Daisuke's attempts to enrage him, tucked an arm behind his back and drew out a kunai and threw them along with some shuriken towards him. Daisuke easily dodged them, still retaining his mischievous smile as he formed some hand seals of his own, a small cloud forming at his feet, telling Kakashi that he'd just focused his chakra to feet, _what's he planning? I'll guess something to try and humiliate me or make me loose my cool_. The silver haired Jounin stepped back into a defensive position as he waited for Daisuke to betray his own plan.


	27. A Very Personal Defeat

A bit of bad language in this one...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [27] : A Very Personal Defeat :_

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><p>Daisuke and Kakashi seemed just to stand there for a long time, as Atsuko observed the pair with great interest; she felt sure Kakashi would win, but there was an undertone of insecurity that she couldn't ignore. Daisuke performed some fast hand seals, creating two clones who immediately rushed at Kakashi, but in his typical style, he dispatched them with lightening fast taijutsu,<p>

"Less than I expected," Kakashi responded, "I wonder if I should take this seriously or not?" he looked away, as though he was wondering why the sky is blue, clearly irritating Daisuke to no end,

"You bastard… I'll _make _you take me seriously!" Daisuke shouted, forming more hand seals creating a series of small but well aimed fireballs, which Kakashi easily avoided by using a Suuiton technique, creating a dragon water jet, spraying the area with a few drops of water and curling wisps of steam momentarily blinding those with no special eyes to the surrounding area. Atsuko took the opportunity to switch positions to get a better look at Daisuke, moving closer to him hiding under a bush but still keeping Kakashi well within her sights. Her back was still aching but there was little she could do, it wasn't one she could bandage alone nor had she any skill for medical ninjitsu, but it was the least of her worries. Daisuke created three shadow clones who each stood each a few feet away form him at varying distances from his rival, a storm of shuriken, kunai and sebon needles rained down towards Kakashi, who dodged them all with relative ease.

As the dust cleared, Kakashi clearly was unhurt by the onslaught, _well, that was to be expected_ Atsuko thought grimly, Daisuke began to perform hand seals whispering something under his breath,

"What's the matter, Daisuke? Frightened to let me know what your next Jutsu is?" Kakashi called out, preparing what his next Jutsu would be,

"Ha," Daisuke called back, as Atsuko could feel the could move a little under her feet, she felt very unsteady as she leapt up just dodging a huge lion leaping up formed out of earth, her foot missing by mere inches from the creatures jaws,

"Fuck," she called out, performing a careful wind Jutsu, channeling her chakra through some sebon needles, slicing towards the earth-creature but it was far stronger than she expected, and her strike only managed to scratch it's face – but in not being a living creature it had little effect.

"Atsuko!" Kakashi called out having only a split second to react to what had nearly happened to her, while trying to keep his eye on his opponent, _shit, this needs to be finished quickly, Atsuko's more than capable of handling that thing and I can't afford to get distracted, he must be taken alive._ Kakashi pulled his haitai-ate up, revealing his Sharingan,

"Ah, so he finally decides to 'take it seriously' eh? I guess it was the right choice, going for her…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Daisuke's smug smile, as he tried to ignore everything else; flicking his shuriken pouch, and fetching a kunai, he tried to provoke Daisuke a little more,

"So what? Too scared to face me head on?"  
>"No, just not that stupid," Kakashi raised his eyebrows,<p>

"Really? You're too scared to do anything to impress her and so the best you can manage are futile attempts to put down the competition who's obviously better?" It was immediately clear that Daisuke couldn't contain his anger,

"What!" Daisuke sprung forward, three sebon needles clenched in his fist, Kakashi closing his right eye and focusing on the movement, he moved his arm, thrusting the kunai into Daisuke's shoulder, as the 'bar-tender' gashed Kakashi right on the ribs under his left arm but the wound was very shallow, drawing hardly any blood. They sprang away from each other, Daisuke panting heavily,

"What do you think now, eh?" Daisuke panted, "I bet you thought you'd never get a scratch on you,"

A sudden, feminine scream attracted both of their attention, flashing their eyes away from each other and towards the area where the scream resonated from, Daisuke turned his whole body around _my Jutsu wouldn't have gone that far… it… shit…_ before Daisuke could move another inch, a bolt of pure wind energy shot out of the trees, aiming straight for Daisuke's arm but he leapt up at the worst time and it cut straight through his leg. Atsuko, having planned for an eventuality such as this one, ensured that the bolt was barely two centimeters wide, thus causing maximum injury with a very low level of fatality. Daisuke howled in pain as the blade itself disappeared and leaving him with an additional wound now to care for, despite the fact that it hadn't had its desired effect of incapacitating one of his arms. Daisuke moved a little quicker than either expected for a man in his current state, forming a seal and lunging forward at Kakashi again, who easily read his movements and dodged his attack and landed a sharp, punishing blow, winding Daisuke.

"Well, Kakashi, it seems that Sharingan of yours does serve you well," the kage-bunshin responded, stood barely a few feet away from Atsuko aiming a kunai at her, as she matched his stance;

"Daisuke, I don't want to kill you," Atsuko forced the same dead expression to cover her face, "Why are you here? Why have you no allegiance to Konoha?"

"Oh, ho I am impressed, Kakashi… how can you love someone who holds such a dead expression?"

"Answer the question." She repeated, beginning to focus a small amount of her chakra to her arms and legs ignoring whatever wasted words Daisuke spoke,

"Sorry, but I don't think you'd find that story very enjoyable… I don't like it too much myself… but I'll tell you one thing, though, I hate Konoha for its…."

Atsuko tensed her muscles and sprang forward, throwing a number of her own sharp kick and punches, which Daisuke mostly managed to block, but his inexperience showed through immediately at the fact she managed to graze him more than once. Just one of her chakra kicks, if stuck perfectly, could break any number of bones and although this was just a clone, the greater damage she gave it, it would also feed back to the original,

"Kakashi, deal with the original!" Kakashi closed the distance between himself and his enemy, leaping at first to the side, to get behind him stamping down on the inside of Daisuke's knee, again driving a kunai into his shoulder, as the clone Atsuko was fighting disappeared, she leapt down in front of the two men, whose taijutsu fighting was slowing with Daisuke's deterioration, Kakashi landed a final kick to his ribs, knocking him to the floor,

"Daisuke… if Naoko and Hideaki were truly shinobi of Konoha, then they would be greatly disappointed to learn that the will of fire passed on has burnt that it was supposed to protect," Atsuko disliked such sweeping statements, but she knew it would get to him,

"Shut up! You know nothing about my mother or my father! How dare you-" he struggled to his feet, attempting to rush at her in his anger, but Atsuko was faster, she grabbed his arm and swung down to the floor, pinning him where he lay as she sat on his back, "Heh, you both think you're such hot-shots, how surprising that you're both have such stupidity… that 'will of fire' you talk about… it doesn't seem to burn so bright when you're around each other, does it? … Y-you seem more like frightened teenagers… heh," Daisuke stamped the toe of his shoe into the ground before jerking it back with a small blade now exposed out of the heel and drove it straight into Atsuko's lower back, she allowed a small cry of pain to escape her before catching his foot yanking out the blade.

"You alright?" Kakashi asked lazily, as he watched her deal a harsh blow to the back of Daisuke's head, knocking him senseless – at least for the time being.

"Yea… let's get out of here," she stood, gathering a line of rope and carefully inserting some chakra between the bonds to strengthen it significantly before tying it around Daisuke's limp arms, "I think we should make it back as far as we can for now… I dislike this place," Kakashi nodded, and was about to recover his Sharingan when he noticed that her chakra flow wasn't quite right,

"Hey, whoa," he jumped forward a few paces, just managing to catch her as she stumbled, _shit…_ "Atsuko,"

"Ugh, yea I'm alright…" she stood up, pushing his arm away a little she attempted to stretch her arms back to feel over the wound but the stabbing pain in her back brought her to an abrupt halt, "Ow… shit," she spoke more to herself but Kakashi, being stood right next to her clearly heard.

"Hold still a minute and I can bandage it for you,"

"I'll be alright,"  
>"Atsuko, you have some sort of poison in your system which, for the moments hasn't affected you too badly; it looks like a pretty weak one," he pulled out a bandage and gently pushed her down to a seat on the grass as he took one next to her as he recovered his Sharingan, "but if you keep loosing blood then it will affect you much more quickly and I cannot carry both you and Daisuke back to Konoha." Atsuko sighed in defeat at Kakashi's resolute voice and allowed him to pull her up to her shoulders, "Hold it," he commanded, his voice tinted with anger, as she could feel him place a patch over the wound, which turned out to be relatively shallow but bled profusely; he doused both of the wounds with a little water but it wasn't much help as the poison had already been absorbed. She could help tensing a little as he wound the bandage around her waist and pulled it tight, fixating the loose end in place; he pulled the end of the shirt out of her grasp, surprising her a little in the process as they brush fingers lightly and he allowed the now blood soaked shirt to fall back into place over her back.<p>

Kakashi lifted Atsuko to her feet and picked up Daisuke, leaning him over one shoulder,

"Ready?" He asked watching her nod in return as they shot off for what would definitely be a long journey back to Konoha. Atsuko had to really force herself to keep pace as she could feel a tingling forming in her hands and feet, _shit if this keeps up then…_ she could feel her body tiring too, much more easily than it should,

"Atsuko," Kakashi could see her weakening significantly, "Slow down, we'll rest here for a few hours," she complied, her body was aching to rest but her head told her to keep going; as they stopped and Kakashi put Daisuke down, he turned to his team mate who was sat down panting, "How are you feeling? What are the effects of the poison?"

"My fingers and toes are beginning to loose feeling and my body is aching… damn I was such an idiot,"

"Don't say that, it's too late now to think about what could have been and he wasn't the easiest opponent for a number of reasons," Kakashi turned to look back at Daisuke's still unconscious form, his tone reassuring; Atsuko couldn't help but smile weakly,

"How far… have we got left to go?" she responded, giving in to her body's demands and lying down as she began to feel a little better,

"Another three days at least, more probably," he responded unable to resist looking over to her, "You'd better last that long, Atsuko," whispering under his breath as her breathing began to look a little uneven; "Hey!" he called out, "hey, you can't go to sleep, sorry," he strode over and shook her by the shoulder,

"Ugh… do I have to?" she cracked an eye open looking unimpressed,

"Sorry, but if you go to sleep then you're probably more likely to die, especially as you haven't eaten much recently," he slipped and arm under her back and lifted her into a seating position,

"Thanks,"

"She won't die if she goes to sleep," Daisuke spoke suddenly forcing Kakashi to whip his head around to him,

"What?"  
>"That poison won't kill her… just incapacitate her for a while," he struggled with his bonds as he lay on his stomach, each wrist tied to the opposite forearms to prevent him making hand seals, "Heh, who would you choose, Kakashi?"<p>

"I won't be making a choice between anyone," He responded matter-of-factly,

"I could tell you the antidote… but I don't feel like explaining something a little too complex for you," Kakashi ignored him and turned back to Atsuko,

"Can I get you anything?"

"Nah thanks… maybe we should just get going again or I'll fall asleep," she passed her hand out for Kakashi to pull her to her feet again, which he did so immediately,

"Ok?"

"Yea," she smiled back at him, albeit a little weakly,

"Oh for Kami-sama's sake!" Daisuke called out with great frustration, "Are you actually blind?"

"What?" Atsuko took a few steps closer to Daisuke, "What are you talking about?"

"I can't believe that you are so blind to him… and mostly ignored every move I made… ugh," he struggled more with his bonds, "were you just playing with us?" Atsuko sighed in frustration _why is this guy such an asshole? _

"I dunno why you and everyone else is so concerned with who I like and who I don't like… from now on you mind your own damn business, ya big oaf," she strode over and cut the bonds holding his legs, _from here on he can run,_ she thought angrily while replacing the kunai, suddenly aware that her anger gave her a little more strength, as she tied the end of the rope to his bound arms and yanked him up to a standing position.

"Oww, take it easy I was only asking-"

"Shut up and get ready to run," she turned to look at Kakashi but found standing right behind her, making her jump slightly,

"I'll take that," he grabbed the rope out of her hands without looking at her, as they darted off. They ran with Atsuko taking the lead, Daisuke in the middle as Kakashi last and he could help but keep his eyes on his team mate worried at how the things Daisuke had said would affect her and his own reactions he couldn't help towards Daisuke's words. They managed to run for a long time, and were now at least a day's worth of travel closer to Konoha. He was worried though, Atsuko was worsening quickly and their formation broke a couple of times where she was struggling to keep pace, although it ended up being Daisuke who egged her on through annoying her,

"Oi, oi, you're slowing down but I am impressed that you managed to keep going this far… it was a good guess about your height and weight by me, wasn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked suspicion arising in him,

"That poison was only ever meant for her… hehe," He could almost see the anger radiate off Atsuko as her pace quickened a little again,

"Why? What purpose would that serve?" he asked back,

"I once thought that the beautiful Atsuko could help me achieve my aims…" she quickened again at Daisuke's sneering voice; _why would that make her angry?_ Kakashi wondered a little, but Daisuke continued, "I see now that _certain people _had too much influence over her before I had a chance to be what I thought she needed… so I thought I'd give her a small taste of her own medicine," Daisuke odd words irritated Kakashi, but he wasn't entirely certain why… was he assuming Daisuke saw her as something to be captured and painted in an image?

Eventually, Atsuko faltered missing a step on a branch and falling to the ground before Kakashi could get there, knowing he couldn't risk allowing Daisuke to escape. Atsuko managed to land fairly evenly but it was easy to tell that she wasn't able to fully correct her position,

"Atsuko!" both men called after her slowing to a halt as she managed to stand again, but she was shaky,

"Yea, I'm ok," Both Daisuke and Kakashi jumped down to her side,

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, placing a hand on her she met his gaze with a small but fake smile,

"Nothing, I just misjudged a jump ehehe, you know I'm prone to that occasionally," she scratched the back of her head, Kakashi frowned a little uncertain why she was acting like this but didn't want to ask with Daisuke listening,

"Can you continue?" he asked gently, desperate to get back to Konoha where he could be rid of Daisuke for a while at least, as he could try and clear his head. Atsuko gently nodded bending her knees gingerly; the expression on her face told him she was resisting whatever pain she was in. They again leaped up and continued on but Kakashi could see Atsuko was in trouble and Daisuke was looking to _cause_ more trouble,

"How come you weren't the hero huh? Couldn't you break her fall?" He turned his head slightly, catching Kakashi's eye with a smug tone unmistakable in his voice,

"She didn't need me to save her,"

"Really?" Daisuke looked back to Atsuko who was definitely uneasy on a leg, "Looks to me like she did… but I wouldn't be so concerned for a woman who doesn't see anything in you," Kakashi narrowed his eyes, _what does he know?_ "You don't believe me, do you? Heh, don't think all I've ever discussed was shinobi matters with her… trust me, you don't mean shit," Kakashi could feel the anger in himself but he tried to control it _calm down, he's only trying to get under your skin… but why would he lie? _Half of him was looking for a fight, _because he knows that he's already lost and just wants to have one last dig. _Eventually Kakashi was feeling deep fatigue and could only guess at what Atsuko was feeling,

"Ok we'll take a rest here for the night," Both Atsuko and Daisuke slowed to a halt in time with Kakashi,

"Finally!" Daisuke exclaimed almost falling to a seat on the grass, as Kakashi turned him over and tying his legs together to prevent him running away before he turned to Atsuko,

"How are you doing? Did you hurt yourself earlier when you fell?" He asked gently staring intently at her as she sat down panting,

"A… little but, I'll be fine… just need some rest," she tried to lean back but twitched in pain at her back, Kakashi placed a hand on her back and lowered her down, worried at the distance still left to get back to Konoha and Atsuko was fading fast, the blood have seeped through the bandaged on her back. _I really didn't think this mission would end like this… I really hadn't expected Daisuke to know exactly what would get to us both and use it so easily, I can't believe how he got to me and now I'm at odds because I don't now what to think… damn I really expected Atsuko to not be caught out by anything especially not that blade in the back of his sandal… what am I going do?_

"Ah… how are you holding up, Kakashi?" Atsuko looked at him with a slightly glazed expression, he smiled back in a vain attempt to reassure her – or himself,

"I'm fine, fine… just looking forward to getting rid of him," Kakashi jerked his thumb behind him in clear reference to Daisuke as he stared back at his friend who looked exhausted,

"Maybe you should get some sleep, I can keep myself awake," Kakashi shook his head at her,

"No, you need the rest more than I, you can sleep for now and I wake you up when it's time to move on," Atsuko nodded, not in any mood for a disagreement or argument, she closed her eyes and was just as soon asleep.

Kakashi sat a few paces away from her leaning his back against a tree where he was close enough to come to either of their aid [or to stop them] as needed, but he wasn't _too_ close. He felt far too uncomfortable to stay any nearer to her; Daisuke's words had been successful in their attempt to create a rift between himself and the Kuniochi. It struck Kakashi then that not only did he not fully recognize himself as the person he thought he was when he first met Atsuko that evening just after he'd first met his genin too; but that he'd also _lost_ to Daisuke, never before had he been easily affected by what other's had to say to or about him, but somehow he had managed to get completely under Kakashi's skin and make him feel more insecure than had done for probably nearly fifteen years. Somehow he hadn't ever managed to make it seem like Daisuke's presence never irritated him or that he didn't care about how that man was with Atsuko, somehow there was nothing about that per se 'bar tender' that _didn't _bother him when Daisuke was around Atsuko; and Kakashi hated it… while feeling like a fool for doing so.


	28. You Can't Escape

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [28] : You Can't Escape So Easily This Time :_

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><p>Atsuko was awoken some hours later by Kakashi,<p>

"Finally!" he breathed, "I'm sorry but we need to get going," his tone seemed oddly cold and exactly one she would expect from a Taichou who didn't know their Kohai well, she nodded in response, wondering if something had happened. She stood and readied herself, feeling the fatigue in her muscles and joints but she was a little more refreshed.

"Ok, let's go," Was Kakashi's last remark before they set off on another day of sprinting to return home, Atsuko could sense some uneasy emotion from Kakashi and whilst she didn't feel any better due to Daisuke's words (and Kakashi's subsequent reaction to them) she kept her distance. Daisuke was unusually quiet too, Atsuko was worried about what could have happened while she slept, but could neither bring herself to ask nor even get any closer than she had too to either of the two men she was accompanied by. Her sleep had really done her good, although her hands were still a little numb, the constant use of her feet and toes meant that she retained a majority of feeling in them enabling her too keep good pace in the same formation they moved in yesterday. Although they were running at a faster rate, the day dragged on more slowly than any other before on this mission. They were very close to Konoha and Atsuko could be happier or more relieved to begin recognizing a few trees, she forced herself to run faster, redirecting what chakra she could manage to her feet and speeding off.

Kakashi too could recognize the area and he would have made Atsuko slow down but he was in no mood to linger anymore than he had to, he too sped up, nearly dragging Daisuke behind him who struggled to keep up.

"Hey, slow down!" Daisuke shouted at the two,

"Just hurry up," Kakashi answered, making it clear he would not deal with any rubbish from him, Daisuke complied, knowing that if he didn't pick up his pace then he _would_ be dragged behind Kakashi – the Jounin was angry enough with him; _I wonder if I pushed them too far? Haha, then everything went according to plan,_ the captive thought, a smile forming at his lips not knowing why he was being so forcibly dragged back to Konoha – he only assumed was for the sake of Konoha's image and secrets. After another hour and a half, they eventually made it to the two kilometer perimeter around Konoha that every single shinobi in Konoha (who dared to call themselves as such) knew almost instinctively. They again increased the pace, Atsuko desperate for a good nights sleep and a change of clothes; and Kakashi who couldn't wait to be rid of Daisuke and the uncomfortable position he'd been forced into over the past few days.

All too soon (not that Atsuko (nor Kakashi) were complaining) they approached the surrounding barrier to the village itself, Atsuko began to slow her pace, knowing that coming to a sudden halt would not bode well for her. She paused at the top of a tree composing herself before leaping to the ground, just as Kakashi landed a foot on the same branch with Daisuke in tow; she landed a few hundred yards outside the gate and immediately strode towards the gate, with Kakashi appearing next to her gracefully but Daisuke literally fell to the ground with both a thud and a number of profanities,

"What the fuck, why can't you slow down?" Their captive shouted his chin severely bleeding as he clearly landed on his chest, as he looked at the two shinobi looked back towards him and seeing their unimpressed expressions he grumbled to himself, "clearly not." Kakashi walked back over to Daisuke and dragged him up by his arm, and frog-marched him towards the gate, where the guards instantly recognized them,

"Kakashi-san, Atsuko-san!" Kakashi nodded back in response,

"We must see the Hokage immediately," he commanded as the guard capitulated,

"O-of course, go right ahead," All three of them marched forward without a second thought, reaching the Hokage's office in no time.

Atsuko knocked on the door,

"Enter," Tsunade's voice called back, sounding rather tired, but she immediately perked up when she saw them walk in, "Welcome back, you sure took your time… but I presume that this is Inusai Daisuke,"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Atsuko answered, doing her best to remain emotionless despite her current physical state, Tsunade eyed the group carefully thinking that they all looked a little worse for wear for what seemed like such a simple mission,

"All right, take him to Ibiki and then you are free to leave. Dismissed," Kakashi turned first to leave, but Atsuko hesitated, expecting an immediate dressing down from Tsunade,

"Atsuko, I'll speak to you tomorrow after you've handed in your report, which I expect in by four o'clock tomorrow," Atsuko nodded and followed the two men out of the door, as they left the building, Atsuko struck up the courage to talk to Kakashi for the first time in what seemed like days,

"Hey, uh, are you alright to take him to Ibiki-san?" Kakashi turned to look back at her, his expression unreadable,

"Sure, no problem," he responded as Atsuko turned and took a different route walking away from them both as Kakashi's eye lingered over her a little longer than it should have,

"What a shame… you really have gotten caught, haven't you huh? For a woman that-"

"Silence. You are now a prisoner of Konoha being brought for interrogation, you have and option to remain silent… although I guess that concept is a little too complex for you," Kakashi cut across him sharply as they appeared outside the building Ibiki should be, he knocked on the door of the Interrogation and torture specialist's office,

"Enter," Kakashi opened the door,

"Tsunade-sama should have informed you of my brining this one here, his name is Inusai Daisuke, and possesses Shinobi skills despite never having been formally trained, he fled the village after fighting with one of our ANBU a little over a week ago,"

"Yea, I know Kakashi, that's fine you can leave him here," Kakashi nodded and let go of Daisuke, as he turned and left as quickly as he could.

~~/********/~~

Atsuko walked back into her apartment, peeling off her clothes and bandages climbing immediately into the shower, feeling grateful for all of the dried blood and grime washing away doing her best to keep her mind off specific people and simply run the mission's events over in her head, ready for writing down. Some hours later, after she had washed, dressed and begun her report which took a very long time to finish, but it didn't surprise her, for everything she wrote seemed to bring back memories she wasn't quite ready to think over – even if she knew that it would be all she could think about for the next few days. She was feeling _exhausted_ to say the very least, she literally dropped her pen down next to the report, just managing to force herself to walk all the way to her bed before crashing down and falling asleep in nearly the same instant.

A sharp and irritating tapping noise forced her into consciousness and out of the peaceful blankness of sleep as she opened her eyes and looked around finding her eyes at the window, one of the Hokage's birds was staring at her with a rather evil expression, bolting up right and ignoring the stab of pain her body gave, she whipped her head around to find a clock, it was nearing six in the evening, _shit!_ Atsuko leaped out of bed and was conveniently already dressed (having not had the energy to changed from last night) she grabbed her report and fled out of the door and all the way to the Hokage's building. She continued running as fast as her aching and tired body could carry her down the hall, but crashed into someone's chest before she could stop her self completely,

"Hey, whoa… you shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard yet," Kakashi spoke holding her gently but firmly around the waist to stop her falling over,

"S-sorry, Kakashi, but I'm two hours late," He let her go after she righted herself and was able to stand, she shot him a small look but immediately looked away after meeting his gaze and strode into the Hokage's office,

"Gomen nasai, Hokage-sama, I-I can't believe how late I am-" Tsunade cut her off before she could say any more,

"It's alright, Kakashi explained your situation to me," Atsuko couldn't keep herself calm,

"W-what! What do you mean?"

"Kakashi explained the injuries you sustained on this mission and the trouble you both had at his attempts to get you to loose your emotional calm," the ANBU Kuniochi breathed a little slower, "Although I'm annoyed that you didn't go to the hospital, I can understand why you're late… do you have your report?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," she stepped forward handing over the now slightly crumpled report, Tsunade flicked her eyes over it reading the pages,

"Good," she muttered every now and then, "very good… I will pass this one along with Kakashi's to Ibiki for when Daisuke's interrogation begins," Atsuko nodded in response, waiting for Tsunade's anger to hit her with full force as the Hokage rejoined her hands at her chin staring intently at the Kuniochi in front of her.

~~/********/~~

Atsuko walked into the bar and straight over to the man serving, ordering two bottles of sake and a cup immediately then sitting at the end of the bar in a shadow, ignoring everyone else around her as she poured herself a cup and downed it straight off, repeating the action a further three times. She hadn't taken any notice of who else might be here or the barman's odd look at her when she brought so much alcohol at once. But after the shouting at she got from Tsunade, she knew that she would most definitely need some alcohol, and a lot of the stuff. She sat still by herself for what felt like a long time, her mood as bad as it had been for nearly the last two weeks, to say that Tsunade was furious at her, was an understatement and although Atsuko had escaped with nothing much to note other than a reprimand on her file, she was a little shaken – have taken effort to pride herself on being able to follow any order and to carry it out with little short of perfection during her life; she wasn't used to misbehaving or disobeying when it came to her work. Atsuko was an odd person and liked her (as Kurenai called it) 'strange ways' outside of anything shinobi related, but she knew when to take matters seriously and following orders was definitely a time for that.

"Atsuko, what are you doing here sat with so much alcohol alone in the shadows?" Asuma's smiling face quickly changed to a more concerned one when he set eyes on his friend with a more empty look than he had really seen on her face before, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine Asuma," she sounded convincing in her head, but her voice and facial expression betrayed her as Asuma took a slight step closer,

"Atsuko… I- look whatever's wrong, you know that you can talk to me, why don't you at least come and sit with me, eh? I really needed a drink and I'll be glad for a little of your company," he weakly smiled worried at how down she looked, his mind flicking back to their last conversation,

"I dunno, Asuma… all I really want is to get blind drunk tonight,"

"Come on," he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, tugging her towards him; unable to really find the effort to put up much of a fight, she stood, grabbing the bottles and her cup and following Asuma to the table he was sat, she fell into a seat opposite him, placing her bottles of drink on the table and leaning back in her chair, avoiding Asuma's eyes.

"How did your mission go? Did you sort out what you needed to?"

"Hmm… sort of," she looked back up at Asuma, catching his eyes before she registered what she was doing,

"How about you tell me, then we get as drunk as possible? How does that sound?"

"Can't we get drunk first?"

"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that to get out of telling me what's up," Asuma shot her one of his classic grins, Atsuko sighed,

"Fine… but we are getting _drunk_ and I mean really, _really_ drunk after, ok?"

"Sure, sure no worries," Asuma replied, pouring them both out a cupful from his own bottle of sake,

"Well, you remember what I was saying about Daisuke last, right?" Asuma nodded as an affirmative, "well, the issue with him was that he has been somewhat trained in shinobi skills, he could use ninjitsu and sense chakra and control it and stuff," Atsuko paused to gulp down some sake,

"Are you serious? How did no one spot it? Why wasn't he enrolled at the academy?"

"I asked him but got no answer… both his parents were shinobi – skilled ones at that and he's excellent at hiding his chakra… Kakashi and I were sent on a mission to retrieve him from the fire/thunder country border after he fled Konoha the day I met up with you and Kurenai last here," she took another gulp of sake, Asuma's expression surprised and a little confused,

"What happened during the mission?" Atsuko sighed heavily, not really wanting to go into much detail,

"D-Daisuke is someone who got to know those around him a little too well… he seemed to specialize in saying all the things which I found uncomfortable to hear… like he knew exactly what would get under my skin and things I know aren't true."

"Like what?"

"J-Just stuff about Kakashi… stuff like that," she suddenly felt very self conscious and it took a good three mouthfuls of sake to calm her down even a little, she dared a look at him to see he was clearly analyzing the information provided,

"What happened then?"

"We had to bring him back for Ibiki-san to interrogate him," Asuma nodded gently in understanding, Atsuko waited with baited breath as to whether Asuma would ask about what exactly Daisuke had said to her… she was really glad that he didn't,

"Ok… wow, I'd never have though Daisuke to have a secret like that… damn… maybe I'm slipping, hahah," his typically smiling face eased Atsuko more than she realized at the time, and she laughed along with him,

"Yea, I know… oh well, in order to honour the agreement, it's time to get blind drunk,"

"Touché," Asuma smiled in return pouring himself a cup of sake as Atsuko did the same, they toasted each other and downed their drinks as Atsuko tried to ignore the silent questions still in Asuma's eyes.

Some hours and rather a few bottles of sake later, Atsuko was quite drunk although it was clear Asuma could hold his liquor a little better, he stared at her actions with great amusement. She grabbed the bottle, ripping the cork out of the bottle and lifting it more sharply than she meant, then attempted to tip the bottle up to pour herself a cupful, but managed to spill half of it over the table,

"Here," Asuma pulled the bottle out of her shaky grasp and poured out the cup for her,

"Hey, I can do it!" she exclaimed with her eyes wide, looking more like a child than she could, eliciting a grin from him,

"Really?" he looked back pointing at the mess she'd made, Atsuko muttered under her breath, feigning a disgruntled expression; Asuma pushed the cup back towards her smiling broadly that his friend had cheered up so much. She glugged it down, suddenly feeling on the worse side of tipsy,

"You feeling alright?"

"Ugh, now I feel the bad effects of being drunk," she grumbled slightly,

"Come on, I'll take you home," Asuma said, rising to his feet and stepping around to table to grab her hand and pull her to her feet as well; she stumbled forward a little but he kept her steady.

As they made it out of the bar and a little way down the street, Asuma could tell she was a lot more drunk than she seemed, he pulled her a little closer allowing her to grab him around the waist as he did the same, finding it a little easier to keep her steady due to their height difference. They walked slowly down the streets, Asuma finding himself wondering about exactly what Daisuke had said about Kakashi that made Atsuko so on edge, _well, its obvious that they like each other, but I doubt Atsuko really sees that, _he thought with a small roll of the eyes _…what exactly could Daisuke have said?_ As they were only a few streets away from Atsuko's, a figure approached them and Asuma recognized their gait immediately,

"Yo, why out so late?" he asked,

"Kaka! What's a-happenin'?" Atsuko asked too, as he came a little closer, forgetting herself while in her somewhat drunken state,

"What's going on?" Kakashi's voice was a little cold and reserved; trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice, but Asuma knew him well enough,

"I bumped into Atsuko at the bar and we ended up getting a little drunk, so I was just making sure she got home alright," he grinned, as his friend's eye fell over the Kuniochi he was currently keeping upright,

"What's wrong? Why are you out so late looking lost?" Asuma thought he knew the answer but flashed Kakashi his typical easy grin in an attempt to reassure him – sensing that it would be the same touchy topic that it was with Atsuko,

"Nothing much, just taking a walk… where's Kurenai?" he asked back lazily, his eye still focused on Atsuko,

"She's on a mission with her genin at the moment, but she'll be back tomorrow,"

"Ugh, I'll see you guys later," Atsuko began trying to pull away from Asuma, "thanks for the help but I'll be ok from here," she took a step away but almost immediate leaned too far forward, only to be caught by Kakashi who righted her up, still keeping two hands on her,

"I'm not sure I trust you to walk off alone," Kakashi stated, staring intently at her, Asuma rubbed a hand over his eyes,

"Well, I think you'll be alright if I head off, I've had a fair bit to drink myself and I need to see Ino and Chouji tomorrow," He turned to walk away deciding that whatever Atsuko had that was still troubling her, Kurenai would be a better help and if Kakashi ever randomly chose to say anything to him (which often ended up being either extremely sporadic or at very odd times), then he'd just have to make sure it seemed as though he knew nothing of the situation.

Kakashi, meanwhile was now feeling very uneasy, with the one person he wasn't quite ready to deal with stood leaning on him while being half-pissed (or a little more than) he wasn't sure what to do. Obviously he knew that he couldn't leave Atsuko in the middle of the street and he'd have to take her home which he had every intention of doing, but he really didn't want to end up at hers. Knowing that he had little other choice, he pulled her a little closer and swept an arm under her knees carrying her the rest of the short walk back to her apartment,

"Atsuko, where are you keys?" he asked setting her down outside her front door, she scratched in her pockets a little dragging out a small set of keys, which Kakashi took from her and unlocked her door. As she sat on the sofa, pulling off her zori slowly, he stood just inside the door, uncertain of whether he should leave or not, he was waiting to come and talk to her properly, but he couldn't well say or explain anything whilst she was drunk, could he?

"I-I'm sorry for being such a pain lately," she spoke suddenly, spiking his interest as she remained staring at her feet leaning right over with her chin resting over the edge of her knees, "I'm sorry for how I've been acting and thank you for explain to Tsunade why I was late to the meeting-_thing_ today," she muttered, stumbling over what she meant a little, Kakashi couldn't resist shooting her a smile she didn't see,

"No problem… and don't worry, _you _haven't done anything," he responded taking a few steps closer to her crouching in front of his friend, a little worried about what would happen over the next few days if she didn't remember talking to him here. She lifted her head staring at him, before he could move she sprung her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her,

"You're a good guy, ya know that?" she whispered lightly, her chin hooking over his shoulder as Kakashi reflected her action and encircled her back with his own arms, careful not to put too much pressure on her injuries, wishing he could pull her closer.

He leaned away from her and rose to his feet, as she yawned, looking as though she was sobering a little but Kakashi lifted her weight off the sofa nonetheless, carrying her towards her bedroom,

"What are you doing?" she asked through another yawn,

"You look pretty tired," he responded simply as his put her down on the bed; "You'll be alright?"

"Yea, thank you… you can have the sofa if you can't be bothered to walk home," it felt like she wasn't saying something all that nice, but she couldn't think of a reason why at the time. Kakashi hesitated, as he stood in her doorway,

"N-nah, its ok… you sure you'll be alright here?"

"Yea, yea you're such a mother-hen," she grinned to herself with her eyes closed, opening them slowly to meet Kakashi's one visible eye which was curved while being closed telling her he was smiling.

"Ahh, night Kakashi, thanks for helping me home," she called out, falling asleep before he answered,

"No problem, Atsuko… good night," he turned and walked out of her apartment, feeling as though he was just as uncertain how to handle their next meeting as he was before while wishing his uneasy feeling would hurry up and leave.


	29. Scary Face

A bit of light relief, hopefully!

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [29] : Scary Face! :_

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><p>Atsuko awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly alright for how much she drank, but wasn't until she sat up that she realized how mistaken her thought was, <em>ugh, fuck… I drank a crap load! <em>Her memory was returning, she remembered meeting Asuma and semi-explaining the situation to him but thankfully he didn't ask too much, he was walking her home when they ran into Kakashi… _what great timing that was_ she thought sarcastically, he took her home… they hugged and then? She didn't know, Atsuko guessed that she must have fallen asleep before anything else happened.

She stood and walked shakily into her kitchen, glad to see no one else was in her apartment, as she fetched and slowly drank a big glass of water (which never failed to help her feel better after a night of heavy drinking); eventually her thoughts turned to the 'issue at hand' Kakashi – and how she was supposed to deal with him. She sighed heavily, not knowing how to handle him or who to talk to… or whether she even _should_ talk to someone; Kurenai would not doubt tell her that she was being silly and that if she just told Kakashi exactly what was on her mind, then everything would be fine. But Atsuko wasn't sure…

Daisuke had managed to create some sort of wall between them and Kakashi had subsequently been acting a little _chilly_ towards her. Deciding to try and leave her thoughts in the kitchen she went to go shower and change, guessing that at the very least, a walk might help clear her head (noticing that the poison Daisuke had injected had worn off almost completely) and make her feel a little better – if should could also find Kurenai, then she might as well see what her opinion was.

Eventually ready, it seeming to take a remarkably long time for her to do very little, she picked up her pouches stocked with their usual contents she left her apartment. Atsuko was walking a little slowly, and found that her feet lead her past the bar and were currently leading her towards the training grounds, without her really realizing. Eventually, she decided that Kurenai would definitely be the best bet to help her and Atsuko turned on her heel to head towards Kurenai's apartment. She was barely a street away when she almost walked straight into the person she was looking for,

"K-Kurenai… are you free?"

"Of course," Kurenai was a little concerned for how unlike Atsuko it was to give off such a timid aura, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure what to do… it's about the last mission I went on with Kakashi; we got back yesterday and it wasn't exactly a text-book classic," Kurenai frowned a little,

"Come to mine, don't worry I've got nothing else pressing to do," Atsuko smiled a little, glad that Kurenai had the time, they both walked back to Kurenai's in a somewhat awkward silence, as Atsuko had no idea how to explain what was going on to her friend.

"Are going to tell me what's up, or would you rather I guess? 'Cause my first one would be something to do with Kakashi," Atsuko could resist a small eye twitch at Kurenai's statement,

"Well… you're right… I just got back from the mission which was to do with Daisuke because he can use ninjitsu and he fled the village-"

"I know, Asuma explained the gist of it to me last night, but I'm more interested in _what_ exactly Daisuke said to you that made you so uncomfortable," Atsuko shot her head around to stare at Kurenai, she'd expected to have to explain the whole thing again to her,

"W-wha?" was all she could manage for the moment,

"Don't worry, Asuma only explained it because he was worried about you… he also thought Kakashi looked quite uncomfortable too when you ran into him then," Atsuko sighed heavily,

"Yea… somehow Daisuke knew exactly what to say to make me feel uncomfortable, stuff about Kakashi, implying that he… uh… well, _likes_ me-"

"And?" Kurenai asked, not quite believing her friend's stubborn refusal to accept Kakashi's actions as anything more than friendliness,

"But then he'd turn around and imply to Kakashi that I was just messing with them both… that I didn't really like either of them and was just… out to play games," Kurenai thought for a moment,

"What other things did he say to Kakashi?"

"Just… asking whether Kakashi would make a choice between Daisuke or myself, as he'd poisoned me with a non-fatal toxin designed to slow me down and sap my energy," Atsuko was feeling horribly exposed and vulnerable… as though she were explaining a dark secret to her friend,

"Hmm… well if Daisuke really was just trying to get under Kakashi's skin and annoy him, then saying something like that – that you're just playing games with them – would really get to him if he likes you, which _he does!_" Atsuko leaned back on the sofa she was sat on, thinking,

"I dunno, Kurenai… he's been acting really weird since and during that mission… a bit cold and _off_ if you know what I mean, like he'd rather keep his distance from me… but then… last night was really embarrassing,"

"What happened?"

"Well, after Asuma left me with Kakashi he took me home and I… sort of apologized to him… I'd already apologized about shouting at him just after we set off on the mission, but I did so badly in capturing Daisuke and then got myself damn well poisoned that I was more hassle than anything else for him…"

"Then what?"

"Well, I hugged him and then I don't really remember, I think I just fell asleep," Kurenai had a dubious expression,

"Nothing was…uh… _missing_ was it?"

"No, no, don't be an idiot… I woke up on my bed but… nothing happened! Anta baka?" Atsuko asked, resisting the urge to punch Kurenai in the head for making her feel more uneasy,

"Ehehe, just checking, just checking! I know Kakashi wouldn't do anything," Atsuko frowned, _what if he said something I don't remember?_

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if Kakashi might have said something I don't remember… what would I do then?" Kurenai shook her head in gentle reassurance,

"Kakashi knew how drunk you were and he has better sense than to say something important to someone drunk who won't remember it," she stood and walked over to her kitchen, "tea?"

"Yea, please… thanks, Kurenai – I think I feel a little better," Atsuko turned to meet her friend's gaze, although she held a mildly unimpressed expression at her half compliment. Kurenai had just poured the tea into a cup for Atsuko when a small bird began pecking at the window, staring at Atsuko as it cheeped a little, _Tsugichi? What does he want?_

"Sorry, Kurenai, I gotta go see my subordinate… thanks for listening though and we'll meet up again soon, right?"

"Of course! No problem, Atsuko I'm glad to help and don't worry about how Kakashi is acting or what Daisuke said… trust me when I say it'll work out, ok?" Atsuko gave a half-hearted smile in return to Kurenai's bright one, and turned to leave the apartment to go and meet Tsugichi, wondering a little at how he'd been.

~~/********/~~

Eventually, Atsuko wandered into sight of the small dumplings and sweets shop, where she instantly spotted Tsugichi waiting there, when he spotted her he rushed over and threw his arms around her in a bone crushing hug,

"Thank god you're back!" he half shouted, eliciting a few laughs from the villagers around them,

"Wha-Tsugichi… what the hell?" she attempted to pry him off of her but he had flattened her arms to her sides and it wasn't proving too easy while trying to avoid some injury to her subordinate,

"Ahh, my temporary Taichou is evil! Thank God the kind, wise and brilliant Yutsi-Taichou is baaacckk!" he eventually let her go, staring at her with clasped hands and a strangely happy expression on his face,

"Err… who is your temporary Taichou?"

"I dunno… but he's evil and rules us with fear and a really scary face!" Atsuko rolled her eyes at Tsugichi's overly dramatic statements, _I wonder if he means Yamato-Taichou? He seems to like his own scary face rather a lot… and to be fair, it is a damn effective scary face at that… _

"Oh, come on, Tsugichi, I'm sure he wasn't that bad, besides I can afford to be a little easier on you because we're only a simple two man cell, where as I'd have to be scary too if it were, say, a four man cell," she wandered into the shop with Tsugichi following closely behind, asking another question as though his life depended on the information,

"What about a three man cell? Would that be scary or non scary?" they walked up to the counter, as Atsuko had a thoughtful expression,

"It would depend a little on who… but more than likely it would have to be the scary option," she grinned at his fallen face a little, before turning to the man serving them, "I'd like some Daifuku, botamochi and green tea please," the man nodded keenly before looking at Tsugichi, who wasn't paying attention,

"Tsugichi? What would you like?"

"Huh? O-oh err, some Dango and tea please," the man nodded again and turned away as they found themselves a seat near an open window, as Atsuko looked out down the street, sensing her Kouhai's lack of comfort at scary-faced Taichous,

"Calm down, Tsugichi, ruling by fear takes too much effort for me, so I'll never use it unless you or the situation _absolutely_ demands me to," Tsugichi let out a deep breath of relief,

"Haha, I knew Yutsi-Taichou was the best, even after our first meeting," he grinned broadly and a little stupidly as their order arrived and they began to eat slowly,

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, a little confused,

"Hehe, you didn't force me to spar with you, even though you were supposed to… and most Taichous test their new subordinates like that and then act disappointed in their skills, even if their not…" he steadily sunk lower to his plate, looking more like a little kid than anything else, "They're so cruel," he muttered, making Atsuko burst into gentle laughter at his actions,

"Hahaha, Tsugichi, it's an important skill to learn not to let what other's have to say affect you too much, especially when it's negative," she waved her hand on front of her face, as though dismissing his mild upset, "Or you can really come unstuck on missions if you're fighting a smooth talker," Tsugichi nodded, and thought for a moment,

"Thanks, Taichou… and thus I'm not going to care what you think about scary faces, and maintain my point earlier, I'm glad you're back!"

"Well, thank you, Tsugichi… even if you are just saying it to avoid 'Scary Face-Taichou'," she laughed a little and was soon joined by Tsugichi's as well.

Atsuko was taking a sip of tea but nearly chocked on it when she sensed a familiar chakra signature walking past,

"Guh…" she quickly ducked down hiding herself from view,

"Hey, what are you doing?" Tsugichi asked, staring straight at her, making it painfully obvious she was there and hiding,

"Don't look at me, idiot!" she whispered harshly back, as she saw Kakashi's familiar form walk past,

"Are you hiding from him?" Tsugichi asked, nearly shouting it and pointing at Kakashi who turned to look at him, Atsuko, realizing that she couldn't hide any longer, stood up and stared right at Tsugichi's, putting on her best scary face, frightening him into silence,

"Tsugichi-kohai, if you don't listen to your Taichou, then I might just have to start ruling by fear also," he immediately backed down shaking a little and giving a frightened smile,

"Ah-haha o-of course, Y-Yutsi-Taichou," Atsuko's face remained a little scary for a while before changing exceptionally quickly to a bright, sweet smile, with absolutely no trace of any negative emotion in it,

"Good!" she sat back on her chair whilst Tsugichi still looked frightened, directing a question towards the man at the window,

"K-Kakashi-san… I-is it a p-pre-requisite for all ANBU captains to ha-have a scary face?" Tsugichi hadn't noticed Kakashi had already walked away, his face again buried in his book. Atsuko felt a stab of concern, a part of her having expected him to join in with the joke, but she pushed it out of her thoughts turning back to Tsugichi,

"Ehehe, you sure are a character, ne?" she smiled at him, waiting for him to calm down and hopefully distract her from Kakashi,

"Why were you hiding from him?"

"It's a very long and complex story that I can't be bothered to explain either to you or at all, really… but never mind, how about we divide the bill and see if we have any up-coming missions?" he nodded and they each placed a few notes on the table walking off to see the Hokage. Atsuko's uneasy feeling returned again and this time, she wasn't too sure how she was going to get rid of it.

Atsuko knocked on Tsunade's office door, and walked in,

"Yutsi, Tsugichi, what can I do for you?"

"Are there any up coming missions, Hokage-sama?" she asked, with her dead, expressionless face securely fixed on,

"Yes, but Tsugichi will remain with his temporary Taichou for one more mission," Atsuko could feel him tense next to her at the thought, "As I'm not certain that you're quite ready for another mission yet, I want you fully rested before you are sent on another mission, which I will do before the end of the week; so please rest while you can, Yutsi," The Hokage's response surprised her, unable to resist the tiniest of eyebrow raises,

"H-Hai, Hokage-sama," she bowed her head a little, wondering if the Hokage was still annoyed at her,

"I realize what an emotional strain that mission was, and whilst I would have expected a little better, I am not so cold that I don't not understand your actions… and I will be able to inform you of the results of that mission soon,"

"H-Hai, arigato, Tsunade-sama," Atsuko felt a little bewildered, _had someone kicked Tsunade out of her chair and taken her place, pretending to be the Hokage?_ She thought, feeling as though she had just about gotten to understand the Hokage well enough by now, only to then be thrown something like this?

"Tsugichi, report to your temporary Taichou for your next mission," he nodded in response, "Dismissed," they both wandered out of the room, as Atsuko could tell he was busting to ask her what all of that meant, but she ignored him,

"Hey, you probably need to go see your Taichou, but we'll be on a mission together again soon, ok? Just try to bear his scary face for a little while longer," she grinned, showing the emotion through her eyes to make up for what was covered by her mask.

"H-Hai, Taichou… I'll see you before the end of the week, I suppose," he smiled a little haltingly, but waved a little as he walked off, leaving Atsuko with her now quite confused thoughts about the recent events as she made her way back to her apartment; although glad that Tsugichi wasn't any the worse for wear and looking forward to their next missions together – he was a pretty good distraction from the other confusing people in her life.


	30. The Worst Possible Timing

There is some... 'physical contact' in this... I don't think that its enough to warrant an 'M' rating, but there are allusions to things, just a warning is all to those who may be of a more sensitive disposition.

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [30] : The Worst Possible Timing :_

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><p>Kakashi had been distracted for some days and he didn't like it… not only couldn't he force the thought of <em>her<em> out of his head, he'd had nothing else to do for the past few days, Tsunade having insisted on him taking a break until the end of the week when the results of Daisuke's interrogation would be discussed with himself and Atsuko. Kakashi couldn't figure out why he felt so awkward and at a lost for what to do, when typically with free time after a mission he'd enjoy the time he had alone and in peace as much as possible.

He was getting very frustrated with himself and couldn't help but turn his bad mood to Daisuke, blaming him for putting him in such a horrible situation with the one he called a best friend, but would rather add another term on to it. When he accidently ran into her and her subordinate at the dumpling shop, he was surprised at himself for a number of reasons, firstly at suddenly how uncomfortable he felt knowing that she was merely the other side of a window to him; secondly at the fact that she'd tried to hide from him _not a good sign_ he thought grimly, and thirdly, the easy, beautiful smile she flashed Tsugichi and the warmth between them unsettled him, having not seen her looking so relaxed and happy for a long time.

Kakashi, found himself outside her apartment, _fuck it, I'm never going to find an answer by avoiding this any longer; I'm sick of feeling like this, so whatever the damn answer is, I'm going to get a response._ He strode up to her apartment door and knocked sharply, jamming his hands into his pockets with his anger and frustration growing by the second. Feeling like he'd waited an eternity, he sharply knocked again hoping that she was in; he raised his and to knock one last time when he heard footsteps behind him, turning he set eyes on the woman he was trying to talk to.

"K-Kakashi?" she looked surprised to see him, raising her eyebrows slightly while she stepped ever closer to him, tugging her keys out of her pocket; he stepped back allowing her to walk right up to her door and unlock it, "What can I do for you?" she spoke without looking at him as she walked through the door and stepped aside leaning down to pull her zori off,

"We need to talk, Atsuko," his tone was firm and commanding, not allowing himself to be distracted from his purpose of being at hers. She looked up and took a few steps further into her apartment walking over to the kitchen, keeping her back to him.  
>"Y-yea… we do, would you like some tea?" he narrowed his eye slightly, not letting her get away with changing the subject,<p>

"No," he followed her, walking right up to her as she backed into the corner, taking what looked like an instinctive step away from him, "Atsuko, I need you to give me a definite answer to my question," it seemed to him that she switched the emotional expression on her face from confusion to apprehensiveness and back to her attempts to look relaxed, he forced himself to take another step closer; he could have placed his hands on either side of her, resting them on the counter, if he so chose to. She looked very nervous and Kakashi wasn't sure exactly why, whether it was his proximity, his tone of voice, his actions or just him himself that caused her to look so uncomfortable.

"Atsuko, I need to know _exactly_ how you feel about me." He kept his expression as serious as his voice, but hers changed to deep shock and confusion,

"W-what?"

"I…" he closed his eye momentarily forcing himself to take a deep breath in and out, "It surprised me, you know… to realize just how much what Daisuke had said to me got under my skin… and it made me realize something; about how much you've affected me," he took a pigeon step closer, "you've become someone so important to me that… that I _hated_ how close he was to you, how much it bothers me to think of you with some_ other guy_ or… or how uncomfortable you seemed the day before you confronted him and then came to see me, I found myself _worried_ that you'd just walk out of my life in the same way you did the last time." He hadn't realized that he'd been inching closer to her, the distance between them now barely a few centimeters, "Atsuko, I've never been easily influenced by people… but somehow… everything you did or said, had some… _effect_ on me that I couldn't ignore…" almost by instinct his reached up to his mask pulling it down over his chin, seeing her wide eyes get even wider and her eyebrows raise even higher, as he pushed his face even closer, their noses were touching by now. As Kakashi reached up, brushing his fingers over the top of her cheek, pulling the mask covering her face down past her chin, feeling her breath fall unevenly over his exposed face; disliking the distance between them and before he could stop himself, he connected their lips in an instant as his arms found their way sharply around her waist, pulling her flush to him.

He pushed his chin forward deepening the kiss, desperate for her to respond, which she did much quicker than when last they were this close. She flicked her arms around him, pulling him closer and opening her mouth a little which he reacted to by pushing his tongue gently forward, soon tackling hers. Kakashi felt like he couldn't get close enough, pushing his entire body forward and tightening his arms a little, trapping her between himself and the kitchen side her back was against; he felt irritated at just how thick his vest was. He felt her push her chin forward, as she pulled him a little tighter with an arm finding its way around his neck as their kiss became more passionate and desperate; Kakashi could feel his trousers becoming uncomfortably tight.

He didn't care too much though, he was determined to let Atsuko knew exactly how he felt _and _get some response out of her – even if he hadn't quite gotten around to that part of it yet; as they parted lips for a moment he pushed his own urgently back, wanting more. Both his hormones and his instincts getting the better of him, he couldn't help but twitch his hips forward a little, dragging a moan of both satisfaction and slight surprise from her as her grip tightened on him too, while she arched her back pushing her chest into his and creating a pressure on his hips not helping his self control, which had already slipped.

One of his hands slid up her back a little, preventing her from leaning any further back from him as he could feel his frustration returning at the awkward angle they were caught in, but as the thought crossed his mind, he remembered why he didn't want to let himself get this far too soon; he tore himself away from her lips, planting his own small, soft kisses down her neck keeping his grip on her tight and secure with one hand moving up to pull her mask out of the way, he paused a little way down, but before he could pull away and open his mouth to say what was on his mind, there was sharp knock at her door and Kakashi could feel her tense out of nervousness,

"Ignore it," he whispered, wishing whoever it was would take the hint quickly, but they knocked again more fiercely,

"Atsuko-san!" It was a voice Kakashi recognized as Ibiki's, as the Jounin sighed in defeat,

"H-Hai," she called out, moving her hands down to his sides to push him away and let her answer the door, but he hesitated not wanting to do so,

"Kakashi," she whispered to him her breath still uneven, as he eventually capitulated and loosened his grip, feeling her pull away; he waited for a moment before yanking his mask over his face and walking over to her sofa to take a seat while he crossed his legs in an attempt to hide his painfully aroused state. Atsuko opened the door a second later having pulled up her mask,

"Hello?"

"Tsunade-sama requires your presence at my office for the results of the interrogation, Kakashi too but I couldn't find him," Atsuko stepped back opening the door a little wider enabling him to see said man sat on her sofa who gave Ibiki a short wave as a greeting, "Ah, good; hurry up, Tsunade's already been kept waiting," Kakashi inched forward onto the edge of the sofa, looking like he was about to stand up, focusing all his thoughts on the inane attempting to rid himself of his problem, wondering if his own thread of fate had a _very sick_ sense of humour.

Eventually, he couldn't stall any longer, as Atsuko had already got her zori on and was scratching in her pockets eventually dragging out her key,

"Kakashi, get up – your tardiness can't rub off on me and nor can you stay in her apartment while she's out," he sighed and nodded, trying to look relaxed as he rose to his feet hoping that it would be no longer visible, as they walked out of the apartment and down the street, Kakashi's mind wandered back to a few minutes ago, did her silence mean that she didn't actually feel much for him? That she really was just playing a game with him? That she's happy for a kiss but didn't want much more to do with the emotional side? He couldn't help but wonder, as the cloud of doubt in his mind began raining fear.

"_There_ you are, what took you so long?" Tsunade called out looking quite unimpressed as the three walked up to her,

"Sorry, Tsunade-Hokage, but Kakashi's laziness slowed us down," Tsunade rolled her eyes in response,

"Well, that doesn't surprise me too much, but anyway, I'm sure you know why I've called you here as we now have something definite about Daisuke's actions and intentions, especially concerning you, Atsuko," the female ANBU's eyes widened as they walked over to Ibiki's desk which was covered with sheets and papers and other such things as he took a seat, picking up a specific sheet and waving it a little.

"We found Daisuke's parents in the records, his father - Inusai Hideaki – was nothing much special, he attaining the rank of Chuunin but never got any higher due to a rather untimely death during the third great ninja war, his mother, Yatohi Naoko, was also a chuunin and ready to take her Jounin exam but her allegiances were doubted as she was very friendly with some other shinobi who became missing nins. She was 'encouraged' to wait until the next time they were held, but she was supposedly killed when Daisuke was still in the academy, having failed to reach genin level more than once. He was not noted as anything much, but it turned out that his mother was training him in secret and had him fail on purpose so as to keep him 'off the radar' as it were.

"After she died, Daisuke was still being secretly trained and left the academy, as he was only a villager working at a bar, no one would pay much attention to him, so he was able to move quite freely. He'd had contact with a number of missing nins. That was all through his mother who faked her death and left Konoha for good; whilst she never posed much of a threat due to her weaken powers, she was attempting to gain another Kuniochi to take her place, which turned out to be you, Atsuko. Daisuke got close to you because you had always been something of a loner and would be much easier to capture you without anyone around to stop them. It was sheer chance that you happened to get closer to Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi at that time which halted his plans a little; and when Daisuke saw that you were able to hold you own against Kakashi, Daisuke made more efforts to get close to you, and in the process push Kakashi away – and attempt to draw you away from Asuma and Kurenai." He paused a moment as all he'd said had time to sink into the two shinobi in front of him,

"How was he going to get me to defect from Konoha and join in his power trip?" Atsuko asked, feeling partially a little confused and impressed that more was going on around her than she realized,

"It seems like he had a special Genjitsu but he couldn't risk using it when others were around; and when Kakashi showed up during your fight with him a little while ago, he forced Daisuke to leave the village, as he was waiting in the sidelines to capture you. When Kakashi appeared not only did he realize the he wouldn't leave easily _and_ that he was no match for the both of you – nor really only one but he had a better chance facing Atsuko alone – banking on the thought that you wouldn't hurt him to badly, which was misplaced, I must say," Ibiki quipped a little, shooting Atsuko a faintly impressed expression,

"So what happens now?" Kakashi interrupted, feeling a stab of anger at the information he'd been told that sounded as though it could have waited, Ibiki flashed his eyes over to Kakashi's bored looking one but turned quickly back to Atsuko,

"You need to keep your eyes open for anyone else you think could be involved in this, I've dispatched an ANBU squad to go and find Naoko and bring her back to Konoha. There was a small piece of disturbing information though, at some point during all of their futile attempts to create a faction, Uchiha Sasuke was also considered – his feelings and actions were long noted by Naoko but again, Kakashi got in the way,"

"Huh?" Kakashi wondered where exactly this was leading… _when and why would some small time thugs want Sasuke? He possesses a Sharingan but little motivated him other than being the best and Itachi obviously… _"Why would they want him? Sasuke wouldn't want anything to do with such small fry,"

"I think you're underestimating them here, Naoko was small fry, but in recent years it seems she managed to get a few bigger fish to watch her back," Tsunade answered, staring harshly at Atsuko, "It seems that she became friendly with a few sounds nins, and although Orochimaru had no interest with one as weak as her, she had a fake chip useful enough to at least make others think twice before attacking. As it happened, this group of nins were affiliated, through a number of ways, to the same group who killed your mother, Yamagata Eiko,"

"W-What? … Why are you telling me this? How is any of this relevant?"

"Atsuko, your mother was considered troublesome by these people, she caught or disposed of many of their group, it's only in recent years that Naoko has come to direct this group towards something more than bounty hunters, Naoko was out to get herself noticed but her confidence wasn't anywhere near matched by her skills as a Kuniochi; she was weak and it showed, thus she wanted you as a strong shinobi – but as a woman who lost her only family so young it would send the right message to those she wanted it to… you've managed to cause an awful lot of trouble recently, Atsuko," The ANBU narrowed her eyes in anger,

"So you just called me here to tell me off again? What other trouble have I caused then, huh?"

"Tsugichi is to relaxed and doesn't seem to take his missions with as much emotionally maturity as I'd expect – you're too soft on him; you allowed yourself to get emotionally caught up in the last mission which influenced your decision making and-"

"Why don't you get to the point?" Atsuko cut across, "whatever the real reason is behind this, hurry up and spit it out,"

"Shape up, Atsuko… I won't stand for anymore of your lax approach to your job… you are a shinobi of Konoha and you do what you're ordered properly. Am I understood?"

"Yes… but you didn't have to tell me such a fancy story," Kakashi could feel the hatred radiating off of her as she raised her hands up to her chest and disappeared in a puff of smoke before Tsunade could even open her mouth,

"She is walking a fine line."

"Hokage-sama, let me talk to her… she's had rather a lot on her plate recently… I know it seems that her subordinate is a little … _relaxed_ but he is skilled and Atsuko trusts him, all of their missions have been done expertly and Tsugichi it seems is an odd one but he knows, trusts and likes Atsuko so he works hardest for her. If you send them on one more mission together, I'm certain she won't fail you,"

"You two seem very close,"

"Her mother and my father were team mates for a time and I got to know her then very well… she was a very determined child and a very hard worker, that side of her I know has not changed," Tsunade nodded in understanding but shooting him a suspicious look,

"Fine, but make sure she understands that I told her what was going on with Daisuke for a reason, that for all her skills, she needs to learn to keep her eyes open for any new information regarding this but we should have Naoko soon and will answer a number of questions… I can't afford to be too lenient, you seem to know her well enough and I can trust you to tell her – she's one of our best, I don't want to have to retract that statement," Kakashi nodded and turned to leave ignoring the odd looks he was getting from Ibiki and Tsunade, hoping Atsuko would be in a reasonable mood and cursing himself for getting caught up by how close he was and kissing her before he said what he really needed to.


	31. Alcohol

A little more bad language...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [31] : Alcohol Solves More Problems Than I'd Like To Admit :_

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><p>Atsuko was sat in the corner of the pub at a small table surrounded by bottles of Asahi, her head spinning from all that had happened in this one day, first Kakashi appeared and nearly frightened the life out of her by saying those things about how she'd affected him and how annoyed he was by Daisuke, then that kiss… She didn't really understand what he was getting at; <em>surely if he felt anything for me he would have said something, or was it all still because Daisuke had gotten to him and this was just him expressing his frustration again while being oblivious to how I feel and what effect it has on me? <em> She didn't know and wasn't sure she could face him so easily again especially considering his 'reaction' to their kiss only serving to reinforce her confusion and uncertainty as to what exactly he felt for her or what she was supposed to do next.

As if that wasn't enough Tsunade then told her some crack-pot story about that little shit Daisuke trying to kidnap her and then the story about how her mother was killed. _Fuck… today is definitely a day for a drink, why do these things always have to happen at the worst time possible?_ She sat there for a while with her head in her hand taking the occasional swig of beer. It had been about twenty minutes since she left Ibiki's office in a cloud of anger. She was ashamed of how she'd acted and of what Tsunade was trying to pull by telling her something like that. Atsuko was trying to stay calm unable to focus on any one thing, wishing she could fall straight to sleep and find some peace, if only for a few short hours. Finishing her second bottle of Asahi and reaching for her third, she tried to ignore the person walking up to her,

"Tsunade isn't that annoyed at you, she's only worried for one of her best shinobi and knows how uncharacteristically on edge you've been acting recently; just go on your next mission with Tsugichi and her faith in you will be restored before you've even walked into her office." She looked up at him stood there with most of his weight on one leg and a hand in his pocket, he looked tired. "She told you about Daisuke because not only did you need to know the whole story, you need to keep your eyes sharp – we all do and even though he never really posed much of a threat, we can't afford to allow ourselves to slip up like that again." She nodded and stared back at her beer, fiddling with the label,

"Sorry, I shouldn't have left that quickly,"

"It's fine," he paused, unable to stop himself hesitating which seemed to give sod's law time to screw them over once more,

"Hey, ya know I'm starting to think that you're beginning to use alcohol to avoid whatever's bothering you," Both Atsuko and Kakashi turned around to see Asuma and Kurenai walking towards them already with a bottle of sake and two cups, forcing Kakashi to take a step to the side, they both took the two free seats opposite Atsuko,

"Well, we haven't all been here together for ages, have we?" But Kurenai's small smile wasn't enough to cheer up either Kakashi or Atsuko, "What have you guys been up to?" she eyed the Kuniochi across the table carefully,

"Uh… just… a lot of _stuff_," she replied cryptically, taking another long swig of beer, as Kakashi walked around behind her and took the last free seat, nearly making her choke on beer. Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a quick look wondering why their two friends look so awkward and uncomfortable,

"Kakashi, had any more missions recently? I haven't seen you for ages," Kakashi, with his usual bored expression looked at Asuma,

"Nah, Tsunade made me take a rest until we were told of the results of Daisuke's interrogation,"

"Oh, have you heard anything yet?" Kakashi sighed, not wanting to go over it all again,

"Yea, but it's a really long story and to be honest, I can't be bothered to explain it all right now," Asuma nodded as Atsuko finished her beer and rose to her feet,

"Does anybody want another drink?"

"Could you get me a bottle of sake, please?" Kakashi asked, without looking at her,

"Sure," she looked at Asuma and Kurenai but they shook their heads.

Atsuko stood leaning on the bar, hating how uncomfortable she was feeling while licking her lips trying to ignore the fact that the taste of his lips still lingered on her own,

"What would you like?" The older barman asked kindly,

"Uh, a bottle of sake with one cup and a bottle of Asahi, please," she responded politely as a sudden hand slapped on her shoulder nearly made her jump out of her skin, "What _is_ your problem?"

"Atsuko, something is _definitely_ wrong with you and Kakashi, why are you both so on edge and uncomfortable with each other, what happened?" As the barman placed the bottles on the table Atsuko swiped them into her grasp and placed the correct money on the counted before turning back to Kurenai,

"I'll tell you when I wake up," she turned on her heel and walked back over to the table, trying to keep her face expressionless and her nervousness hidden, she placed the two bottles on the table and pushed the sake with the cup sat upturned on the cork stopper over to Kakashi, as she took a seat and swigged from her bottle of Asahi. Kurenai sat back down too, looking between the two opposite her with concern and slight irritation, _well, no doubt something major has happened between them and it hasn't been properly sorted out… ugh… why are these two so bad at this? It shouldn't be this difficult…_ she thought a little disgruntled as she sipped another cup of sake uncertain how to form any conversation that either would really respond to,

"Oh yea," she suddenly though, "Is Tsunade still angry at you?" Atsuko looked up,

"Well, I didn't think she was but I guess I was mistaken,"

"She isn't," Kakashi joined in, surprising the ANBU a little, as he poured himself out a cup of liquor, "She's just a little frustrated at an… _awkward_ situation," the tone in his voice made it immediately obvious that he wasn't _just_ talking about Tsunade,

"Yea, well… it seems that _the situation_ has done its best to screw a lot of people over recently," she replied taking a rather hefty swig of beer, he nodded in response and looked out over the fading light of the evening, taking a quick gulp of sake, before pouring out another.

"Do you guys feel like a drinking game?" Asuma asked, sensing that it would probably relieve some of the tension between them the he could almost feel from across the room,

"Can't we just get drunk without all of that?" he rolled his eyes at Atsuko's remark, "Well, I wouldn't mind getting drunk… and I've had enough of people making things unnecessarily complex,"

"You 'wouldn't mind' getting drunk? That's new, is there something you have to do?"

"…Well, I remember how crap I felt the last time when I woke up and how much of an idiot I was,"

"Haha, well at least you cheered up, right? You look like you could do with cheering up again,"

"Yea well, you could just go and punch Ibiki in the face for me," she muttered under her breath leaning her head on her hand again, facing away from Kakashi, resulting in Asuma simply laughing at her,

"Eheh, what did he do?" Atsuko grabbed her bottle of beer and shot Asuma an unimpressed look,

"Don't ask,"

"What did he interrupt?" Kurenai butted in, but Atsuko ignored her and continued to drink from her beer,

"_Must_ your damn intuition always pick on me? Leave me the hell alone!" she exclaimed, in mock anger as Kurenai resisted a laugh at her expense and tuned towards Kakashi,

"What did Ibiki interrupt, Kakashi?" he looked slowly up from his book that he'd fetched out a little earlier,

"Huh?" he questioned looking remarkably confused and as though he genuinely wasn't listening.

Atsuko felt stuck, she didn't want stay as she knew that Kurenai would eventually get her to admit what she didn't want to in this situation; but she was apprehensive that if she left it would bring her next meeting with Kakashi a little closer. She took another swig of beer which was the last of her bottle, irritating her slightly, she thought it wouldn't be too much of a bad idea to leave and pick up some more Asahi on her way home. She took a deep breath and pushed her chair back a little, avoiding the pairs of eyes staring at her,

"Uh…I- I think I might head off… it's been a tiring day," she wasn't looking at anyone, and rose slowly to her feet turning back to face them unable to resist glancing over at Kakashi who was staring back at her keenly, the question clearly in his eye. She tore her eyes away from his and over to Asuma and Kurenai, "I'll see you guys around, ok?"

"Why are you leaving so soon? What's the rush?"

"N-none, I just… I'm a little tired really, and the alcohol has only made me more so," she tried to swallow her nervousness as she turned to walk away, she caught Kurenai giving Kakashi an odd look. Atsuko shook it off and walk out of the bar, straight in the direction of the shop to buy more alcohol that she knew she'd need.

It turned out that all there was left were bottles of sake; sighing a little she picked two up, guessing that although she was in the mood for beer, something to drink was better than nothing. She meandered back home, a part of her had hoped that Kakashi would follow her out as usual so that while she thought she had the courage to say what she needed to rather than having to wait and seek him out later which would no doubt be too much for her pathetic self. She sighed heavily again wondering if she should not waste time with cups and just drink from the bottle here and now, it was dark enough. She got back into her apartment slamming the door heavily behind her, placing the bottle on the table, pulling off her zori and fetching a cup from her kitchen she fell into the sofa preparing herself for a long night of drinking, aiming to get as drunk as possible, trying to ignore the man flitting around her thoughts currently causing her great frustration.

As she sat on her sofa, a memory returned which she hadn't thought about for a so many years, about the last time she set eyes on Kakashi at the end of the Third Great Ninja War,

_She awoke slowly, not recognizing where she was, but feeling much better then she lost consciousness, looking around a little more it became immediately obvious that she was in Konoha hospital. A now thirteen year old Atsuko managed to sit up a little and looked over to her left, seeing someone she never thought she'd set eyes on again, Kakashi. He was looking at her with a seemingly blank expression. _

_"What?" He asked in a harsher tone than she'd ever remembered him using, as she realized that she'd been staring,_

_"N-Nothing," She responded as she pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and yanked on her trousers under the small gown she was wearing, rising to her feet, suddenly wanting to leave._

_"How've you been?" She asked while turning her back to him to pull her shirt over her head as fast as she could although not really exposing much due to the numerous bandages covering her torso,_

_"Fine. Never better," He answered bitterly, betraying the lie in his words,_

_"H-How's your father?" She turned back strapping her pouches around her waist, fully noticing that one of his eyes was closed, he took a while to respond._

_She saw out of the corner of her eye Kakashi look over to her form, as she finished tying her shuriken pouches to her leg with his one remaining visible eye, "He is dead, he committed Seppuku about seven years ago," there was a harshness to Kakashi's words, but Atsuko could not determine exactly what that harshness was directed at. _

_"Sakumo-sama" she whispered quietly, finding it difficult to accept the confirmation of her suspicion._

_"What?" Kakashi responded harshly, "what did you say?"_

_"Nothing… goodbye, Kakashi-san, it was good to… see you again." She turned on her heel and left the room, although she was still in a weakened state not knowing at the time she wouldn't set eyes on him again for more than ten years. As she marched down the hall ignoring all of the people around her, she wondered about the boy she physically recognized to be Kakashi, but he certainly didn't have the same warm aura to him that she so clearly remembered… She wondered what exactly had happened._

Atsuko couldn't find the effort to get up from the sofa, all she could focus her blurred thoughts on was Kakashi, at a complete loss as to what his actions meant. She felt stupid for missing his presence and wished she had the courage to go and tell him exactly what she felt for him; _why does everything based on emotion have to be so complicated? Fuck…_ He'd caught her so off guard earlier that a small part of her felt relief that Ibiki had interrupted them when he had; she felt so nervous that Kakashi had so suddenly appeared and kissed her so passionately with what felt like no explanation as to his actions… and it felt too similar to the last time when he kissed her, which she guessed he was just acting out of frustration. _If that's all it is, then how am I supposed to be his friend when I feel the way I do? I know I promised myself not to allow my emotions to get in the way of our friendship, but I think that's becoming impossible…_ She shifted to lie down on her back trying to stop her head feeling so bad from both the alcohol and her unanswered questions, allowing herself to drift off to sleep.


	32. Strategic Interferance

There is some more swearing, but not a lot...

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><p><strong>I Still Remember : <strong>

_Chapter : [32] : Strategic Interference :_

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><p>Eventually Atsuko awoke, still on the sofa feeling physically sick from not only the quantity of alcohol that she'd drunk, but also from the mixing a spirit with drinking beer. She dragged herself up, feeling too restless to remain there any longer and headed straight to the bathroom to clean herself up a little; hoping it would at least give her something to do for a while. She wandered back into her room, dressing in fresh clothes and seeing the mess her room was in she wondered how she ever found anything at all. Atsuko decided that it would probably be a good idea to make some tea and re-order her shuriken and kunai pouches as she'd managed to scramble them a little on her last mission.<p>

Searching her room for the third one she knew she had besides the two she usually carried, as she cleared away varying sheets of paper and other random items out from under her desk, a small scroll fell out from somewhere and Atsuko didn't recognized it at first, but as she inspected it a little more closely, she couldn't but laugh a little sarcastically. _Ha!_ Atsuko thought bitterly to herself as she set eyes on the small calligraphy scroll of her name, a present from her mother that she'd forgotten about, _my name is just a big contradiction, 'honest' is exactly what I'm not but I most definitely am still a 'child'_, he eyes drifted over the spelling, which used the kanji meaning 'honest' for _atsu_ combined with the kanji _ko_ meaning 'child' completing her given name. She wasn't sure how she'd managed to forget this scroll, but it annoyed her to look at it and she chucked it behind her, grabbing the spare pouch it had apparently been hiding.

She cleaned and sharpened all of her kunai, shuriken and sebon needles, setting them out neatly on the small table in front of her, pausing occasionally to take a sip of tea. She hadn't taken much note of the time, but she could tell it was late afternoon and her weapons were nearly all clean and sharpened which they definitely needed having not received as much attention as they need to stay in good order recently. Having finally packed away all of her weapons into the pouches and tucked two back on to her belt, she left the other resting against the leg of the low table, out of sight of anyone walking through the door. Standing and stretching, Atsuko decided that it was time for a meal of some description and having felt a little cooped up, she left her apartment in search of something to eat and ramen sounded like a good option. She meandered through the streets, hoping no one she knew would be around while she sought out the ever popular ramen bar, Ichiraku's.

"Atsuko-san! I haven't seen you for a long time, how have you been?" Tenchi asked, with a kind smile on his face,

"Not too bad thank you, Tenchi-san… usual stuff really, missions and the occasional troublesome person," He nodded in response,

"Nothing you couldn't handle, I'm sure; what would you like?"

"A miso ramen with extra pork, please," he nodded and turned away to cook the noodles,

"I haven't seen Daisuke-san or Kakashi-san for a while either, how are those two?" Atsuko froze, glad he had his back to her for the moment,

"Uh… well Kakashi's fine and I… haven't seen Daisuke in a while…" She hoped it would be enough to get rid of an uncomfortable conversation;

"Really? I thought you were quite close to Daisuke," He turned back to her, the surprise evident on his face,

"Uh… I knew him well enough, I suppose… but we weren't that close,"

"Oh, yes neither he nor Kakashi got on too well with each other, did they?" Atsuko could resist a small frown out of frustration,

"Please, Tenchi-san, I'm sick of how those two act around each other," the owner laughed lightly and turned back to tend to the noodles.

"Here you are, Atsuko-san," he placed the bowl in front of her, "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No thank you," she shook her head gently and reached for a pair of chopsticks, "Itikimasu," She muttered under her breath, snapping the chopstick apart and stirring the noodles lightly tugging her mask down over her chin and taking an uneasy bite, her mind finding its way back to a topic she'd managed to successfully avoid for most of the day. She'd eaten very slowly, surprised at how much effort it seemed to take for such a simple task of eating noodles, but then again she hadn't much motivation for anything recently.

"_There_ you are, I've been looking for you for ages," Kurenai appeared next to her taking the free stool next to Atsuko,

"Hey," she replied shortly, doing her best to look as though she wasn't being bothered by anything, "What are you up to?"

"Never mind that, tell what happened between you and Kakashi yesterday!" Atsuko's expression didn't change,

"Kurenai, please… I-" she cut herself off, not really wanting to tell her friend,

"Atsuko, I couldn't believe how awkward you both looked and I haven't seen Kakashi look so lost for what to do after you left, we could barely get a complete sentence out of him." She turned her head back away from Kurenai, suddenly feeling an odd affirmation of her suspicion that Kakashi's actions being the result of his frustration,

"So what?" Kurenai sighed heavily,

"Atsuko, explain what happened first, then I'll tell you 'what'," Kurenai tone was more commanding and serious than Atsuko could really remember;

"Wh-why do you care so much?"

"Atsuko,"

"H-he just showed up at my apartment the other day after we'd been really awkward with each other because of what Daisuke had said… a-and just started saying all of this stuff about how Daisuke annoyed him and that I …I have some sort of effect on him… that he didn't like the idea of Daisuke being close to me," Atsuko scratched the side of her head,

"Anything else?"

"Well, then… h-he kissed me,"

"I don't understand why you're so awkward then,"

"Ibiki chose the worst timing and knocked on my door while we were k-kissing… so… I dunno,"

"Oh-ho! I knew he liked you," Teuchi butted in, as Kurenai shot him a fierce stare, "O-oh, sorry," he scratched the back of his head in a vain attempt to recover and apologize for listening in,

"He doesn't… If he did, then he would have said something, right?" Kurenai placed a hand on Atsuko's shoulder and turned her friend to face her,

"He was _trying_ to, idiot, what else do you think his words mean?"

"Kurenai, I _don't_ know and I'm _not_ discussing this any more." She shot a look at Tenchi, "Thank you for the ramen," She span around on her stool and attempted to walked off into the dark night feel uncertain and ashamed of having such an …_uncomfortable_ discussion with Tenchi listening, but before she could get anywhere Kurenai grabbed her by she shoulder,

"Atsuko no matter what I say to you, it's clear you won't listen to me, but I'm telling you that you _can't leave this_, go and talk to him! Do you really think that you can constantly avoid him?"

"N-no but…"

"I'm sick of seeing you two avoiding each other like this and how awkward you are… I know this isn't really my business but neither of you are happy with this situation nor are you going to do anything about it, so I'm interfering because you've been so stressed out lately and the current relationship you have with Kakashi is no help whatsoever. Please, go and talk to Kakashi, if only for your own sake of a definite answer," Atsuko stared at her friend with no idea what to say or even what to emotion to show on her face, she felt deeply uncomfortable and worried.

"I… I will, but first I just need to take a walk… a-and clear my head," Kurenai nodded, looking worriedly at her friend,

"O-ok, just… take it easy yeah?" Atsuko nodded,

"Bye, Tenchi-san," She partially lifted the half-curtains and walked out of Ichiraku's and down the street not caring much where she was headed and just allowed her feet to take her in whichever direction they wanted to go in.

Atsuko couldn't stop herself wondering about his words, _the focus seemed to be on the fact Daisuke annoyed him… it… it must be the fact that he was just frustrated, how could it be anything else? _Finding herself near the KIA stone, she flopped down on the grass and laid back placing her hands behind her head, the stars seeming oddly soothing. Atsuko took a deep breath liking the shapes created by the small lights of the stars, the night air was crisp and cool with the silence calming her down significantly, her eyelids drooping a little.

"Hey," Her eyes shot open,

"W-Why are you here?" He took a step closer and sat down on the grass with his back to her and his elbows resting on his propped up knees,

"I was at the KIA monument…" he responded slowly, turning his head slightly towards her although she could only make out the silhouette of his face, "I… I think I need to explain about yesterday," she wasn't sure what to do, a part of her wanted to sit up but she couldn't really move, "I was feeling… _frustrated_ at everything that's happened over the past few weeks… and I wanted to let you know what I was feeling,"

"I know," she sighed, shifting her arm to rest the crook of her elbow over her eyes,

"What?"

"It's ok, I get it… you were just annoyed at Daisuke and all the shit he came out with," she heard him shift a little, her heart getting heavier by the second.

"N-no, Atsuko you don't get it at all," he shifted around to get a clear look at her, the apprehension and determination to say what he needed to growing, as he stared at her lying there with her arm covering her eyes, "I-I kissed you because I love you… and I tried to tell you yesterday, but," he'd been shifted closer to her, now right beside her reaching over and grabbing her wrist up revealing her eyes, "but you caught me out… and I – well, I couldn't control myself to be honest, my resolve wasn't quite as strong as I thought it was," he shot her a slightly embarrassed smile,

"W-what? Why?" she asked, her confusion shining clearly in her eyes,

"I don't know why… I just _do_, you just somehow became so important to me… and managed to get an emotional reaction from me for even the smallest things…" he paused as she sat up, forcing him to sit back, as he extended a leg behind her, watching her profile; she didn't answer,

"Well?" he asked, gently demanding an answer from her,

"O-of course I love you too, Kakashi,"

"Then why do you sound so unsure?" he asked back, a bolt of uncertainty stabbing at him,

"Well, that was the very last thing I expected to hear from you," Kakashi extended his hand around her shoulders and pulled her close to him; Atsuko could feel his laughter reverberating around his chest,

"Ehehe, so you think that the fact that I said all of that to you yesterday, then kissed you and ended up a little… err… _overexcited_ was due purely to my frustration at Daisuke?" He leant back a little to look at her, "Asuma's right, you really do have some funny ideas sometimes," she couldn't resist a grin suddenly feeling much more at ease and secure than she had done for a long time.

She shifted around to face him reaching up to yank his mask down with one hand with the other pulling her own mask down, pushing her lips urgently towards his allowing her tongue to tackle his quickly as Kakashi leaned back, disliking the awkward position. Atsuko had to shift forward, getting comfortable on his chest resting a forearm on the grass next to his head, and a knee beside his hips keeping most of her weight off him. Kakashi gave a small grunt of disapproval and pulled her down flush to him, deepening the kiss as her heart seemed to skip a beat liking the feeling of being so close to him _and_ knowing exactly what he was feeling.

"In keeping with our usual style, would you like some tea?" she asked as they came to a halt, leaning her forehead on the grass next to him not quite ready to sit up yet, her breathing again unsteady hoping he'd know she didn't quite mean _that_ by her offer. He nodded releasing his tight grip on her, as she sat up and fiddled with her mask which had managed to get itself twisted at some point,

"Damn you," She muttered under hear breath unaware of Kakashi amused smile at her actions, eventually she managed to free it and pulled it over her face as she rose to her feet, Kakashi eventually doing the same,

"Shall we take the quick way?" He asked taking a step closer and coiling an arm around her as they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

As they reappeared outside Atsuko's apartment she scratched for her key yawning slightly, Kakashi not letting her out of his grip, but was eventually forced to as she leaned down to take off her zori as he did the same. Yawning broadly again and rubbing a hand over her eyes she rose to her feet,

"Right, tea,"

"Would you rather go straight to bed?"

"Wow, not time wasting eh?" She asked unable to resist a small smile,

"Ah, no, no that's not what I meant, it's just you look pretty tired," he held up his hands waving them a little with his typical close eye smile,

"It's been a really long few days, but I don't want to be so boring," she said, scratching her head a little, a slight mischievousness twinkled in his eye,

"Well, if I can stay, then I guess I don't mind _too_ much," Atsuko couldn't resist a small roll of her eyes, "Uh, not that we have to do anything,"

"Come on," she walked past him and into her bedroom as he followed closely behind, she began to pull of her varying bandages and her headband as Kakashi too took of his vest, headband, gloves and shirt, leaving him in his sleeveless vest; Atsuko slipped into bed, now only in her underwear, her eyes observing him, as his hands found the hem of his trousers he looked over to her,

"Go for it," she yawned again, "But at least keep your pants on," Kakashi couldn't resist a laugh as he pulled his trousers off,

"You must be tired, ne?"

"Oh _please_," she issued back sounding a little exasperated turning her head away from him slightly still hearing his laughter; he slipped into bed next to her, finally pulling of his sleeveless shirt and mask as his arms immediately found their way around her. He flicked off the light and kissed her again,

"Well, today didn't turn out to be as crap as I thought it would," she commented, encircling him with her own arms, kissing his exposed neck, as he chuckled a little,

"Mmmh, this feels a lot better without feeling awkward or like I'd have to explain myself later,"

"Yea, tell me about it," she replied with the tiniest hint of sarcasm, but her agreement with his last remark clearly evident as he squeezed her tight to him momentarily.


	33. Hasn't Changed : End

A little more bad language... Oh well, it is the finale!

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><p><strong>I Still Remember: <strong>

_Chapter : [33] : Hasn't Changed : End :  
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><p>Atsuko awoke slowly with a yawn to meet Kakashi's one open eye and a small smile on his face, before she could say anything to him he leaned over her, not allowing her to bear too much of his weight as their lips met, running a hand down her side. Kakashi couldn't resist inching himself lower as he could feel his desire growing (not much help by the feeling her chest pushed into his) and his pants again beginning to feel all too tight; he paused, rolling onto his back and closing his eyes,<p>

"What's wrong?" he heard her ask as she leaned over him, running a hand over his chest,

"Ugh, we're in bed, semi-naked and kissing like that… and considering my self control has never been all that great around you…" he trailed off hearing her laugh as she shifted a little closer,

"Ehehe, well, I promise I won't make you wait too long," she lifted her head up a little to look at him as he held a cheeky smirk, "I see that damn smirk of yours hasn't changed,"

"Hahah," Atsuko moved to kiss him again as he shifted back on to his side, feeling eased although his body hadn't calmed down at all, he ignored it as best he could but before they could get any closer, a sharp tapping on the glass forced Atsuko to sit up a little to see one of the Hokage's birds staring at her and Kakashi.

"Oh, geeze… that stupid bird has crappier timing than Ibiki," She grumbled lying down again hearing Kakashi laugh,  
>"The Hokage needs to see you?"<p>

"Yea… you too though," she shot him a look that he wasn't too impressed with,

"Ugh…do we have to?" he asked, locking his arms around her, making sure she couldn't move as she struggled in her attempts to get out of bed,

"Yea… we have to go see what Tsunade wants this time… though I really can't be bothered," she sighed leaning on to her hands and knees to climb over Kakashi, who clearly wouldn't be getting up any time soon. As she placed her feet on the floor, albeit awkwardly, she picked up her shirt flinging it over hear head and climbed into her trousers, feeling warmer from the chilly air felt all the more keenly by the loss of his body heat. She covered her shins with bandages and left her mask loosely around her neck walking out of the room with a quick glance behind her, seeing Kakashi hadn't moved an inch. As she wandered back from her short visit to the bathroom Kakashi was up and dressed waiting for her by the door,

"Ready?" She asked, as she walked up to him to pull her zori onto her feet,

"Not quite," she looked up at him, just as she stood, silently querying his response while he pulled her back flush to him, "Tsunade can wait for a moment," with one hand holding her tight and the other pulling down his mask their were barely a few centimeters but she turned her head at the last second,

"Shouldn't be too easy, ne?" she asked the laughter evident in her voice, as he moved a hand to the side of her face unable to resist a smile at the game she was playing.

She managed to duck out of his arms and keep a few paces away from him the neither of their mischievous smiles leaving their faces – albeit for slightly different reasons. Atsuko managed to dodge him a fair few times with the occasional small squeal of delight she couldn't resist at the situation as he chased her around her sofa, but Kakashi eventually managed to get a hand around her and stepped forwards removing the space between them although she too took a step and the back of her knees collided with the arm of the sofa causing them both to fall backwards. Atsuko shifted a little, moving further up the sofa to get a little more comfortable as Kakashi leaned forward, taking the weight off his own knees which were between hers allowing her to take his weight, connecting their lips at the same time. Atsuko returned the kiss, opening her mouth and meeting his tongue in an instant as she tightened her legs slightly around him liking the feeling of his weight and twitching her hips to his, feeling the state he was in. His arousal was not being helped in_ the slightest_ while in such a position nor her movement under him while kissing him so passionately, he broke the kiss a little reluctantly at the sound of a bird again at the window glaring at them,

"Maybe Tsunade can wait for a _while_," he commented wishing the small sparrow would take the hint and disappear,

"Haha… maybe we should go or someone will turn up and find us in an… uh…," she paused not able to find quite the right euphemism for what she was meaning,  
>"Heh, well this would be more embarrassing than last time," Atsuko could help but laugh heartily at his remark, turning her head to the side as she could feel his own breaths of laughter on her exposed neck as he kissed over it.<p>

The small sparrow at the window pecked ferociously as they both realized that they really would have to go and see what Tsunade wanted if they were ever going to find any peace.

"Damn…" She muttered placing a foot on the floor and leaning over slightly, forcing Kakashi to stand up first, as she shifted her feet around so she was now sat on her sofa. She stood and smoothed out her slightly wrinkled clothes as Kakashi stood a little awkwardly, with his mask already pulled over his face,

"I'll… meet you there, ok?" Atsuko pulled her own mask over her face and hide her small smile,

"Sure," She returned, walking past him and opened the door, shooting him one last smile before she left despite knowing she'd see him in barely a few minutes. She meandered through the streets of Konoha, not walking too fast as she thought about Kakashi and the past two days, unable to keep the small smile off her face.

"_There_ you are, it's about damn time!" Tsunade shouted as she entered the room, with Ibiki stood to one side and Kakashi already in front of the Hokage,

"Gomen nasai, Tsunade-sama,"

"Get on with it, Ibiki,"

"We've captured and Interrogated Yatohi Naoko and we found a little more information,"

"What? Already?" Atsuko interrupted,

"Yes, we sent out the ANBU nearly a week ago," Ibiki shot her an irritated look, "It seemed that she was planning something of a coup on Konoha, an attempt to siphon off a number of our shinobi and ANBU… rather arrogant thinking on her part. It seems that she attempted to use her promise of this as a bargaining chip, which nearly caught the attention of a few troublesome missing-nins, but most of those knew that Konoha's shinobi don't defect easily and it would take someone more powerful than Naoko to do it."  
>"Did she come into contact with anybody we know?" Kakashi asked causally, hiding his irritation at what Ibiki interrupted for the sake of such pointless information,<p>

"Not directly, but some of the sound-nins she spoke to were involved on the attack on Konoha during the last set of Chuunin exams… whether Orochimaru knew of her plans or not is irrelevant, she was too weak to ever have much of an effect, but it seems that if she had been successful in her attempt to capture you, Atsuko, then she could have proved two things, one that she was more powerful than she looked, and two, that Konoha had weaker shinobi than it seemed." Although Atsuko kept her face expressionless, she wasn't sure where exactly Ibiki was going, or why he seemed in such a rush to tell them,

Tsunade sighed a little, "Get to the point, Ibiki,"

"It seems Naoko twisted the story a little, and when you two went out to capture Daisuke, she told those who were listening that Kakashi went to retrieve Daisuke and Atsuko; although this was nothing in itself and Naoko never really posed any threat, this could arouse some interest from the enemies that we do have… which could cause significant trouble for the future,"

"Atsuko you and Tsugichi will take on regular long range scouting missions among the others you are required to do and you will asses the situation regarding what information the sound nins have or what they are planning,"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Atsuko bowed her head a little,

"Kakashi, you too will need to collect as much information as you can while you're on long range missions… not only can neither of you discuss this with anyone else, but you two must also make certain that whoever you come across whose could be a threat and knows of Naoko, _get as much information out of them as possible!_" Both shinobi nodded in understanding as Kakashi was itching to leave, still feeling that all the fuss Tsunade and Ibiki seemed to be making was more on the unnecessary side.

Tsunade eyed the two shinobi carefully in front of her, noting that whatever tension she could see before seemed to have been completely dispelled; they both looked almost completely relaxed and at ease than she'd seen for a long time.

"Hmm, well, Atsuko report to me tomorrow for your mission, likewise with you too, Kakashi," they both nodded again as neither could be bothered to speak, "Dismissed," Atsuko and Kakashi filed out, and once they were safely out of ear shot in the hall Atsuko piped up,

"How long had you been there before I showed up?"

"About five minutes… just long enough for her to shout at me so that she couldn't be bothered by the time you showed up," he responded, grumbling slightly,

"Ahaha, I bet you were hoping I'd get there first so that you'd get the better end of the deal, right?" Kakashi's deeply unimpressed expression told her that she was right, just as they exited the building it was still a nice enough day, and afternoon was approaching,

"Hey, do you fancy a drink? Tsunade's always enough to put me in the mood for a beer,"

"Heh, sure, Tsunade's rushing us for basically nothing is very frustrating," He sighed, falling into step right next to her with his hands in his pockets.

As they walking into the pub and up to her bar, the owner walked over to them, smiling politely,

"What would you like?" Atsuko asked Kakashi,

"Uh… a bottle of sake please," she nodded and turned back to the owner

"And a bottle of Asahi, thank you," the owner smiled and walked away to fetch the two bottles, as Atsuko pulled out the exact money for the two drinks, having bought them enough times to know the amount,

"Here," they thanked the owner and picked up their respective drinks, turning to find a free table spotting Asuma and Kurenai,

"Hey, let's go bug them for how annoying they've been to us recently… even if it was good in the end," Kakashi muttered slightly under his breath walking over to their table as Atsuko hung back slightly, "Yo," he immediately took a seat as they other two looked up setting eyes on the two,

"Ah, hey," Asuma responded, as Atsuko took a seat also and pulled her mask down to swig her beer,

"What have you guys been up to? You look a bit tired, Asuma,"

"Ah," he sighed, "Just trying to train my team this morning… but Shikamaru was being exceptionally lazy and barely moved, Ino spent most of her time yelling at Chouji who seemed to be eating more veraciously than usual today… so basically I got up early for nothing," he sipped down a gulp of sake grumbling slightly,

"Ahaha, that sounds like _loads_ of fun…" Atsuko responded sarcastically, "I dunno why you lot wanted to teach genin in the first place,"

"Eh, they're not so bad… besides it pretty easy, they get all of the boring missions that take hardly any effort at all," Kurenai rolled her eyes at Kakashi's comment, as she took a swig of her cup of sake,

"Why aren't you a teacher?"

"I _hate_ children," she responded simply ignoring the sweat drops Asuma and Kurenai held as she took another swig of beer, thinking for a moment about how odd her life seemed and how being sat drinking with Kurenai and Asuma, while counting them her best friends and finding herself in love with the guy sat next to her who she once called best friend, but not only that, but that _he_ loved her too. She was going to take another swig, but momentarily decided against raising her bottle,

"Cheers, guys," They all too raised their cups of sake, Kurenai noting to herself how suddenly relaxed and happy Atsuko and Kakashi looked, smiling internally guessing that they must have admitted to each other their feelings, all she could think of for that moment was _finally!_ Completely unaware that everyone else around that table was thinking exactly the same thing.

..

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><p>.<p>

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Alas, the end! I hope you enjoyed this more than I did lol, I loved the story, until I wrote _Fascination_ almost exactly a year later... Ahh, well, thank you for reading!


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